Cesare Dandini trained first with Francesco Curradi, then with Cristofano Allori, and finally with Domenico Passignano, before securing support from important Florentine patrons including Lorenzo de’ Medici. He produced many pictures of half-length figures, costumed to represent allegorical, mythological, or biblical characters, combining portraiture with thematic devices, and refining the figures to conform to his idea of grace and beauty. His later work became more animated with exaggerated gestures, influenced by the paintings of his younger brother Vincenzo’s teacher, Pietro Da Cortona, the fresco painter and key figure of Roman Baroque architecture.