Bartolomeo Bimbi

Bartolomeo Bimbi (15 May 1648 – 1729) was a Florentine (so from what was then the Grand Duchy of Tuscany) painter of still lifes, commissioned by his patrons including Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany to paint large canvases of flora and fauna for the Medici Villa dell'Ambrogiana and della Topaia, now conserved in the Pitti Palace and the Museo Botanico dell'Universita.

Life and work Born in Settignano on May 15, 1648, Bartolomeo Bimbi was the son of Nicolò. Around 1661, he entered the workshop of Lorenzo Lippi, where he remained until the death of the master (1665). He then became an apprentice for Onorio Marinari. After a trip to Rome with Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici, he began working for the Florentine court and aristocracy. Although his training made him suitable for figure painting, Bimbi is known almost exclusively for his activity as a painter of still life and portraits.

He died in Florence on 14 January 1729.

Bimbi followed, in part, the tradition of Jacopo Ligozzi in documenting the botanical collections of the Medici. He was a pupil of Lorenzo Lippi and Onorio Marinari. Others claim he was a pupil of Angelo Gori.