Domenico Passignano



Domenico Passignano, born Domenico Cresti or Crespi, was an Italian painter of a late-Renaissance or Counter-Maniera style that emerged in Florence towards the end of the 16th century.

Biography

Cresti was born in Passignano, currently a frazione of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa about 30 km south of Florence, and was educated by the local Vallombrosan monks. He started his works in the stylized Tuscan manner, working with Giovanni Battista Naldini and Girolamo Macchietti. After travelling from Rome to Venice, he came under the influence of Tintoretto's style. He had traveled to Venice as an assistant to Federico Zuccari, who had employed him previously in the completion of Vasari's unmemorable frescoes for the Florentine Duomo.
He was known to paint with great speed; however, as he used less paint in order to work quickly, most of his works have been severely damaged by time. As a result of this gift, he was nicknamed Passa Ognuno – a possible play upon the name of his birthplace.
In Florence, he painted frescoes of the Translation and Funeral of Saint Antoninus for the Cappella Salviati in San Marco and Preaching of John the Baptist for San Michele Visdomini. He painted a Nativity for Lucca's Duomo di San Martino. Other works can be found in the church of San Frediano in Pisa as fresco, in the Uffizi Gallery, and his Our Lady of the Jacobins, in the Besançon Cathedral. He also painted famous portraits of Galileo and Michelangelo. He also painted frescoes for the Vallumbrosan Badia di Passignano in his hometown.
Among his pupils were the brothers Valore and Domenico Casini, Pietro Sorri, and Cesare Dandini.
Passignano died at Florence in 1638.

Selected works