La “prima opera” del Furini

The article is about the rediscovery of the altarpiece that marked Francesco Furini’s début. This is a canvas housed in the church of Santa Maria a Vezzano in the Mugello, recorded by Filippo Baldinucci in his biography of the painter as “his first work in oil”, sent to the Mugello. Believed to be lost by modern writers, it stands at the very beginning of his oeuvre, preceding the well-known Crucifixion with Saints Bartholomew, John the Baptist and Magdalen in Todiano, which was completed by the nineteen-year-old artist between 25 March and 10 April 1623. The author provides new details about Furini’s youthful period and reflects on a lost fresco he painted in the Florentine church of San Procolo, as well as discussing his role within Matteo Rosselli’s workshop during the decoration of the villa at Poggio Imperiale.