Rosso
Fiorentino
born March 8, 1495, Florence [Italy]
died Nov. 14, 1540, Paris, France
also called Rosso Fiorentino, or Il Rosso Italian painter and
decorator, an exponent of the expressive style that is often called
early, or Florentine, Mannerism, and one of the founders of the
Fontainebleau school.
Rosso received his early training in the studio of Andrea del Sarto,
alongside his contemporary, Pontormo. The earliest works ofthese two
young painters combined influences from Michelangelo and from
northern Gothic engravings in a novel style, which departed from the
tenets of High Renaissance art and was characterized by its highly
chargedemotionalism. Rosso's most remarkable paintings from this
period are the “Assumption” (1517; fresco at SS. Annunziata,
Florence), the “Deposition” (1521; Pinacoteca Comunale, Volterra),
and “Moses Defending the Daughters of Jethro” (c. 1523; Uffizi,
Florence).
At the end of 1523 Rosso moved to Rome, where his exposure to
Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, the late art of Raphael, and the
work of Parmigianino resulted in a radical realignment of his style.
His “Dead Christ with Angels” (c. 1526) exemplifies this new style
with its feeling for rarefied beauty and subdued emotion. Fleeing
from the sack of the city in 1527, he worked briefly in several
central Italian towns. In 1530, on the invitation of Francis I, he
went to France (by way of Venice) and remained in the royal service
there until his death.
Rosso's principal surviving work is the decoration of the Galerie
François I at the palace of Fontainebleau (c. 1534–37), where, in
collaboration with Francesco Primaticcio,he developed an ornamental
style whose influence was felt throughout northern Europe. His
numerous designs for engravings also exercised a wide influence on
the decorative arts both in Italy and in northern Europe.
