Born in Florence, Balducci was trained by Giovanni Battista Naldini. Under the guidance and supervision of Vasari, he worked as an assistant to Federico Zuccari in the fresco painting of the Final Judgment (1575–1579), on the inside of the Brunelleschi dome of the Duomo in Florence. He also frescoed a Last Supper in the church. These paintings, in addition to other transient ornamented arches and banners, were part of decorations developed to celebrate the wedding of Ferdinand I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, to Christina of Lorraine. During this time, Balducci also painted an altarpiece of the Mystical Marriage of St Catherine for the church of Sant'Agostino in San Gimignano.
