(b Florence, c.1611; d Venice, 22 Apr. 1678). Italian painter, poet, and architect, active mainly in Venice, where he settled in 1646/8. He was one of the most individualistic of Italian Baroque painters, often choosing unusual subjects and expressing a vivid sense of movement with his brilliantly free brushwork. His work foreshadows 18th-century Venetian painting and he may have been Sebastiano Ricci's first teacher.
Text source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press)
