, superintendant of music to Louis XIV. was born at Florence in 1634, of obscure
, superintendant of music to Louis XIV. was born at Florence in 1634, of obscure parents; but an ecclesiastic, discovering his propensity to music, taught him the practice of the guitar. At ten years of age he was sent to Paris, in order to be a page of Mad. de Montpensier, a niece of Louis XIV. but the lady not liking his appearance, which was mean and unpromising, he was removed into the kitchen as her under-scullian. This degradation, however, did not affect his spirit, for he used, at his leisure, to scrape upon a scurvy fiddle; and, being heard by some person who, had discernment, was mentioned to his mistress as a person of both talents and a hand for music. She then employed a master to teach him the violin; and in a few months he became so good a proficient, that he was removed from the kitchen to the chamber, and ranked among the musicians.