Salviati, Francisco Rossi

, called Tl Salviati, from the favour and patronage of the cardinal Salviati, was the on of Michelangiolo Rossi, and was born at Florence in 1510. He was first placed as a pupil under Andrea del | Sarto, and afterwards, with far more advantage, with Baccio Bandinelii. Here he had for his fellow pupil, Vasari, who afterwards pronounced him the greatest painter then in Rome. His employment kept pace with his reputation,­and, among other beneficial orders, he was engaged by his patron, the cardinal, to adorn his chapel with a series of frescoes, the subjects being taken from the life of St. John Baptist. He produced a set of cartoons of the history of Alexander, as patterns for tapestries; and, in conjunction with Vasari, ornamented the apartments of the Cancellaria with paintings in fresco. From Rome he went to Venice, where he painted many pictures, both for public edih’ces and private collections, particularly the history of Psyche for the Palazzo Grimaldi. He afterwards travelled through Lombardy, aid made some stay at Mantua, studying with much delight the works of Julio Romano. At Florence, he was employed by the grand-duke to adorn the Palazzo Vecchio: in one of the saloons he represented the victory and triumph of Furius Camillus, a work greatly admired for the truth and taste of the imitation, and the vigour and spirit of the composition.

A restless habit, and a disposition to rove, led Salviati to accept an invitation to France, from the cardinal de Lorraine in the name of Francis I., then engaged in constructing and adorning his palace at Fontainebleau; and during his stay here, he painted a fine picture for the church of the Celestines at Paris, of the taking down from the Cross. He soon after returned to Italy, where the turbulence of his temper and his continual disputes with his brethren shortened his days. Such continual agitation of mind brought on a fever, of which he died in 1563, at the age of fifty-three. ¹