Lot Essay
Antonio del Ceraiolo was a pupil of Lorenzo di Credi, whose essentially quattrocento style was maintained with very little change well into the sixteenth century. He was subsequently drawn to the orbit of Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, heir of the workshop built up by his father Domenico, who was one of the abler and more adaptable of the painters who emerged in the new century in Florence. After he left Ridolfo's shop, Antonio del Ceraiolo built up his own, somewhat conservative practice, painting a number of altarpieces, two of which are mentioned by Vasari in his biography of Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, and smaller devotional works. Vasari also records that he executed portraits.