Baccio Baldini: A Florentine Renaissance Goldsmith and Engraver Born: Florence, Italy (1436) Died: 1487 Early Life and Training Baccio Baldini was an Italian goldsmith and engraver active in Florence during the Renaissance. Information about his life is scarce, primarily derived from Giorgio Vasari's writings. Vasari stated that Baldini was a goldsmith and a student of Maso Finiguerra, who Vasari incorrectly credited as the inventor of engraving. It appears Baldini relied heavily on designs by Sandro Botticelli, purportedly due to a perceived lack of his own artistic skill in dis…