, Florence Born in
Florence, Balducci was trained by
Giovanni Battista Naldini. Under the guidance and supervision of
Vasari, he worked as an assistant to
Federico Zuccari in the fresco painting of the
Final Judgment (1575–1579), on the inside of the Brunelleschi dome of the
Duomo in Florence. He also frescoed a
Last Supper in the church. These paintings, in addition to other transient ornamented arches and banners, were part of decorations developed to celebrate the wedding of
Ferdinand I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, to
Christina of Lorraine. During this time, Balducci also painted an altarpiece of the
Mystical Marriage of St Catherine for the
church of Sant'Agostino in
San Gimignano. From 1577-1580, he aided Naldini in the fresco decoration of the Altoviti Chapel in the church of
Trinità dei Monti in
Rome. He returned to Florence, to assist
Alessandro Allori in the decoration of Vasari's Gallery for the
Uffizi. Under the patronage of Cardinal Alessandro de' Medici, who later became the short-lived
Pope Leo XI, Balducci was engaged from 1588-1590 in painting a cycle of frescoes depicting scenes from the
Life of Christ for the
Oratorio di Gesù Pellegrino, located in Via San Gallo of Florence. From 1590-1591, he worked with Naldini in the decoration of
Volterra Cathedral, painting in the Serguidi chapel a
Miracle of Loaves and Fishes. By 1600, Balducci had moved to Naples, where he painted altarpieces of
St Dominic dispensing the Rosary and
St Peter Martyr for the church of
Santa Maria della Sanità. In 1609 he painted the
Pardon of Carlo Gesualdo, now in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in
Gesualdo in the province of
Avellino. Balducci also continued to work in fresco, painting in the cloister of Santa Maria del Carmine and on the ceilings of the church of the Annunziata in
Maddaloni, in Campania. He died in Naples. Balducci is buried in
the catacombs beneath Santa Maria della Sanità, where members of the Neapolitan upper class were interred, with their heads placed in frescoes created by Balducci depicting their bodies; he too was buried in a similar manner. ==Legacy==