(b Florence, c.1576; d Madrid, 1638). Spanish painters, brothers, of Florentine birth (they were originally called Bartolommeo and Vincenzo Carducci). They settled permanently in Spain in 1585 when Bartolomé accompanied Federico Zuccaro to carry out work at the Escorial (Vicente was a child at the time). Bartolomé became a court painter in 1598 and worked on royal commissions in Madrid, Segovia, and Valladolid. He painted in fresco as well as oils, and was influential in introducing Italian ideas to Spain. Vicente was appointed a court painter in Madrid in 1609, but he is now remembered mainly for his book Diálogos de la pintura (1633). In this he defended the heroic Italian tradition (championing Michelangelo in particular), and excoriated the naturalism of Caravaggio.
Text source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press)