Francesco Furini was one of the leading Florentine painters of the first half of the seventeenth century. As a young man, he was profoundly influenced by the classical sculpture in the Medici collections in Florence, and on travelling to Rome in 1619, was exposed to the work of Raphael which also played a significant role in shaping his output. While in Rome, Furini also encountered the works of Caravaggio and his followers, becoming acquainted with their strong chiaroscuro techniques and the exuberant Baroque style then so popular in the city.
Furini was predominantly a painter of religious and mythological scenes. He was particularly known for depicting highly sensual female nudes, rendered using a unique sfumato technique that combined the grace and harmony of Raphael and antique sculpture with the focus on naturalism and dramatic tenebrism he discovered in Rome. He received numerous important commissions, including for the decoration of the Palazzo Pitti for Ferdinando II de' Medici, which he completed 1639 and 1642.
Furini returned to Rome in 1645, and died in Florence in 1646.
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