1510 -1563 · Florentine and Roman mannerism, bella maniera and portrait

Elegant anatomy, sophisticated colors, clever decorations and crystal-clear portraits place Francesco Salviati at the heart of the 16th century bella maniera.

Francesco de' Rossi, known as Francesco Salviati, was born in Florence in 1510. He trained successively with Baccio Bandinelli, Raffaello da Brescia and Andrea del Sarto, whose confident design and balance of the figure he retained. Installed in Rome in 1531, he entered the service of Cardinal Giovanni Salviati, whose name he adopted. The frescoes of the Oratory of San Giovanni Decollato established his reputation and revealed a painting nourished by Raphael, Michelangelo and Antiquity. Salviati then led a mobile career between Rome, Venice, Florence, Bologna, Mantua and France. This circulation explains the cosmopolitan character of his style. The Florentine line was enriched by the venetian color, the elegance of Parmigianino and Roman monumentality. In Florence, he created the great cycle of Camille's Stories for Cosimo I at the Palazzo Vecchio, where painted architecture, heroic figures and ornaments make up a political manifesto. In Rome, the Farnese entrusted him with several decorations and chapels. His drawings, often executed with very free energy, prepare frescoes, altars, tapestries and engravings. Salviati is also a remarkable portrait painter. The thin, transparent surfaces, hands, jewelry, letters and clothing define the rank of the model, while the gaze maintains an individual presence. Portraits of five artists transform the memory of Giotto, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Brunelleschi into the genealogy of Italian creation. The Deposition from the Cross reveals his taste for twisted bodies, diagonals and contained drama. Praised by Vasari as master of the bella maniera, Salviati died in Rome in 1563. His work links the virtuosity of Florentine drawing to a truly European court culture. The "Francesco Salviati" selection notably compares Portraits of Five Artists and Sainte Famille with Saint John the Baptist. His reading favors the material.

Salviati makes virtuosity a language of power: the body, the decor and the portrait become the actors of a learned and mobile elegance.