Carlo, an eminent artist and writer on art, was born at Vicenza in 1602. His study of painting was characterised by shrewd practical common-sense. No narrow view of the subject would content him. He threw aside the false style of the Venetian school of that day, and strove to make his pencil imitate nature. He also sought instruction in studying the literature of painting. Nor did his sagacity forsake him when he came to be the biographer of artists. His style presented a favourable contrast with that of most of his predecessors. All tedious moralising and childish fables were discarded. The only incidents brought forward were real facts clothed in precise language. His criticisms on pictures, too, were for the most part exact and judicious. Ridolfi is said to have died in 1658. His biographical work was entitled The Wonders of the Art, or Lives of the Illustrious Painters of Venice and of the State, in 2 vols. 4to, Venice, 1648.