Giuliano di Piero di Simone Bugiardini (1475–1555),

was an Italian Renaissance painter. He was born and was mainly active in Florence. He was a painter primarily of religious subjects but he also executed a number of portraits and a few works with mythological subjects. According to Giorgio Vasari he claimed the artist began his career under the sculptor Bertoldo in Lorenzo de' Medici's famous sculpture garden near the convent of San Marco. It was probably there that Bugiardini met the young Michelangelo, with whom he'd remain friends throughout his career. In 1508, Bugiardini, Agnolo di Domenico del Mazziere, Francesco Granacci and other artists were called to Rome to assist Michelangelo with the Sistine Chapel ceiling, but their services were quickly rejected and the team was sent back to Florence. Bugiardini's friendship with Michelangelo was, however, enduring. According to Vasari, Michelangelo designed most of the figures in Bugiardini's large Martyrdom of Saint Catherine (1530-40) in the Rucellai chapel at Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Bugiardini also painted Michelangelo's portrait (Florence, Casa Buonarroti). Most of the drawings once given to Bugiardini are now attributed to others.  In 1555 he died in his native Florence.