_Cristofano Allori_ (Florentine: 1577-1621).
An excellent portrait-painter, who painted many of the
distinguished persons of his time. Of his other works, the best
known is the "Judith with the head of Holophernes," in the
Pitti. The Judith "so beautifully and magnificently attired is
a portrait of his mistress; while her mother appears in the
character of Abra, and the head of Holophernes is that of the
painter, who permitted his beard to grow for this purpose."
He was very fastidious in his execution. "From this method,
and from vicious habits that often seduced him from his
labours, his pictures are rare, and he himself is little known"
(Lanzi's _History of Painting_, i. 217). Cristofano was the
son of Alessandro Allori, a painter of Michelangelo's school.
Notice the richly embroidered head-dress, resembling in form the
Venetian rolled coif or turban which often occurs in pictures of Titian.