Mariotto Albertinelli

Mariotto Albertinelli, in full Mariotto di Bigio di Bindo Albertinelli was an Italian High Renaissance painter of the Florentine school. He was a close friend and collaborator of Fra Bartolomeo and their joint works appear as if they have been painted by one hand.

Mariotto Albertinelli was born in Florence as the son of a gold beater. He was an only child and his mother died when he was just five years old. He was himself trained as a gold beater until the age ofwhen he became a pupil of Cosimo Rosselli and a fellowpupil with Fra Bartolomeo. The two pupils formed such a close friendship that in 1494 they started a joint studio in Florence. After a while Albertinelli had mastered Fra Bartolommeos technique to such extent that he could paint in a style that blended with that of his partner. The closeness in style was such that for many years some doubts remained over who had painted certain works. For example, the Kress tondo now in the Columbia Museum of Art was given to Fra Bartolommeo but is now thought to be the work of Albertinelli using the formers cartoon.

Source: Wikipedia