Matteo Rosselli
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
painter of the late Florentine
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
Counter-Maniera and early Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
. He is best known however for his highly-populated grand-manner historical paintings.
Biography
He first apprenticed with Gregorio PaganiGregorio Pagani
Gregorio Pagani was an Italian painter of the late Mannerist period, active mainly in Florence. He was the son of the painter Francesco Pagani, then became a pupil of Santi di Tito, then entered the studio of Ludovico Cigoli. He painted the St. Helena finding the Cross for Santa Maria del Carmine,...
. On 26 February, 1599, he was inducted to the Accademia del Disegno
Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze
The Accademia di Belle Arti is an art academy in Florence, Italy and it is now the operative branch of the still existing Accademia delle Arti del Disegno that was the first academy of drawing in Europe.-History:The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno The Accademia di Belle Arti ("Academy of Fine...
, and in 1605 traveled to Rome to work with Domenico Passignano
Domenico Passignano
Domenico Passignano , born Cresti or Crespi, was an Italian painter of a late-Renaissance or Contra-Maniera style that emerged in Florence towards the end of the 16th century.- Biography :...
for six months.
He completed some frescoes on lives of Servite monks (1614–1618) in the Palazzo Pitti
Palazzo Pitti
The Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio...
and in the Cloister of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata; a Madonna and child with Saint Francis altarpiece for the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Florence; and an Adoration of the Magi (1607) for the Church of Sant'Andrea in Montevarchi
Montevarchi
Montevarchi is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy.- History :The town of Montevarchi sprang up around 1100, near to a fortified Benedictine monastery founded by bishop Elempert of Arezzo. At first the castle belonged to the Marquess Bourbon del Monte di Santa Maria, then...
. He painted a Crucifixion (1613) now in the parish church at Scarperia
Scarperia
Scarperia is a comune in the Province of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 25 km northeast of Florence....
. He painted a Last Supper (1614) now in Conservatorio di San Pier Martire. Upon the French monarch's death, he was commissioned two commemorative paintings of events in the life of Henry IV
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
: his visit to Nantes and Gaudabec (1610). He also completed an Assumption (1613) for the church of San Domenico in Pistoia
Pistoia
Pistoia is a city and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 km west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno.-History:...
. He painted a number of frescoes for the Casa Buonarroti
Casa Buonarroti
Casa Buonarroti is a museum in Florence. The building was a property owned by the sculptor Michelangelo, which he left to his nephew, Lionardo Buonarroti. The house was converted into a museum dedicated to the artist by his great nephew, Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger...
based on events of Michelangelo's
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
life, including Fortifications of San Miniato
San Miniato
San Miniato is a town and comune in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy.San Miniato sits at an historically strategic location atop three small hills where it dominates the lower Arno valley between the valleys of Egola and Elsa...
(1615) and two others (1627 and 1628), all commissioned by his nephew, Michelangelo Buonarroti the younger.
In 1621, he was commissioned to paint a Triumph of David (Pitti) and a Lot and his Daughters and Tobias and Angel (Galleria Corsini). Further decorations (1622–1623) were commissioned by Leopoldo de' Medici for the Casino di San Marco: Frederick II rebuilds the Port of Livorno and the Capture of Ippona (Florence, Corte d'Assise). Leopoldo also commissioned from Rosselli the allegorical paintings (1622) in the Sala della Stufa in Palazzo Pitti.
He frescoed in reception rooms of the Villa di Poggio Imperiale
Villa di Poggio Imperiale
Villa del Poggio Imperiale is a predominantly neoclassical former grand ducal villa in Arcetri, just to the south of Florence in Tuscany, central Italy...
with scenes portraying European emperors amid biblical and historical scenes (1619–1623). He painted a Madonna of the Rosary (1649) for the Cathedral of Pietrasanta
Pietrasanta
Pietrasanta is a town and comune on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about 32 km north of Pisa...
and a canvas of the Mission of Saint Paul in Damascus (frame by Nero di Porta Venere, for the Duomo di Volterra
Volterra
Volterra, known to the ancient Etruscans as Velathri, to the Romans as Volaterrae, is a town and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy.-History:...
. The largest collection of Rosselli drawings is contained within the Louvre Museum, Paris, with many being preliminary sketches for other works.
Among his many pupils were Baldassare Franceschini
Baldassare Franceschini
thumb|Portrait of Cardinal [[Gian Carlo de' Medici]].Baldassare Franceschini was an Italian late Baroque painter active mainly around Florence...
(il Volterrano), Lorenzo Lippi
Lorenzo Lippi
Lorenzo Lippi was an Italian painter and poet.Born in Florence, he studied painting under Matteo Rosselli. Both Baldassare Franceschini and Francesco Furini were also apprenticed with Rosselli...
, Francesco Furini
Francesco Furini
Francesco Furini was an Italian Baroque painter of Florence.His early training was by Matteo Rosselli , though Furini is also described as influenced by Domenico Passignano and Giovanni Biliverti . He befriended Giovanni da San Giovanni...
, Giovanni da San Giovanni
Giovanni da San Giovanni
Giovanni da San Giovanni , also known as Giovanni Mannozzi, was an Italian painter of the early Baroque period.-Biography:...
(Giovanni Mannozzi), and Jacopo Vignali
Jacopo Vignali
Jacopo Vignali was an Italian painter of the early Baroque period.Vignali was born in Pratovecchio, near Arezzo, and initially trained under Matteo Rosselli. He painted the ceiling fresco of the Love of the Fatherland and Jacob's dream for the Casa Buonarroti in Florence. In 1616 he entered the...
.