Domenico Passignano

Portrait of Galileo Galilei.

Bathers at San Niccolò (detail).

for the town in Umbria, see Passignano sul Trasimeno.

Domenico Passignano (1559 – 17 May 1638), born Cresti or Crespi, was an Italian painter of a late-Renaissance or Contra-Maniera (Counter-Mannerism) style that emerged in Florence towards the end of the 16th century.

Biography

Crespi was born in Passignano, currently a frazione of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa near Florence. He started his works in the stylized Tuscan manner, working with Giovanni Battista Naldini and Girolamo Macchietti. After travelling from Rome to Venice (1581–1589) where he was influenced by 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 to be quick he used less paint, 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. It is thought that Passignano was derived from it.

In Florence, he painted frescoes of the Translation and Funeral of Saint Antoninus (1589) for the Cappella Salviati in San Marco and Preaching of John the Baptist (1590) for San Michele Visdomini. He painted a Nativity (1594) for Lucca's Duomo di San Martino. Other works can be found in church of San Frediano in Pisa as fresco and in Uffizi Gallery. He painted famous portraits of Galileo and Michelangelo.

Passignano died at Florence in 1638.

Selected works

• Ganymede and Jupiter, University Oklahoma Museum of Art [1]
• The Allegory of Chastity, [2]
• Wedding Banquet of Grand Duke Ferdinand I de Medici, [3]

References

• Freedberg, Sydney J. (1993). Pelican History of Art. ed. Painting in Italy, 1500–1600. Penguin Books Ltd. pp. 625–626. 
•  "Domenico Passignano". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 

Persondata
Name	Passignano, Domenico
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1559
Place of birth
Date of death	1636
Place of death