Biography

Italian painter and printmaker, part of a family of artists, brother of Alessandro and Giovanni Alberti. The best known of the three sons of Alberto Alberti, he distinguished himself as a printmaker at an early age. One of his earliest prints, an etching of the Virgin and Child (1568) shows his interest in Raphael as well as in contemporary Mannerist art. In Rome he studied with Cornelis Cort, whose swelling burin line he adopted to create pictorial effects of strong chiaroscuro.

Between 1571 and 1575 he made several prints after Federico Zuccaro and Taddeo Zuccaro. During the next ten years he reached the height of his fame as a printmaker, producing engravings after Raphael, Michelangelo, Polidoro da Caravaggio and of ancient statues. His prints of Polidoro are particularly valued as documents of lost works. He also made prints from paintings by Andrea del Sarto, Rosso Fiorentino, Marco Pino, Pellegrino Tibaldi and Cristofano Gherardi. He made numerous original engravings, among them an Angel Supporting the Body of Christ, which exemplifies his concern with graceful postures and ornamental draperies.

In his later years he designed elaborate presentation prints, such as a portrait of Henry IV of France in an ornamental cartouche (B. 248) and a large Adoration of the Shepherds for Pope Clement VIII. His oeuvre includes over 180 prints.