Abstract

Portraiture is the most homogeneous pictorial genre; only a few standard formats exist and subjects tend to be depicted in a similar fashion. Such homogeneity lends itself well to statistical analysis. The activity of some portrait-painters in seventeenth- century Florence (Domenico and Valore Casini, Giusto Suttermans, Antonio Franchi) can be thoroughly evaluated on the basis of important documents (among these two rare account books belonging respectively to the brothers Domenico and Valore Casini, and to Antonio Franchi) which highlight the earnings of these artists and the relationships with their patrons.