About the artist
Born in the small Italian town of Sassoferrato in 1609, Giovanni found himself in the artistic crossroads of Rome and Florence. Early in life, he was tutored by his father, the painter Tarquinio Salvi, whose lesser-known works can be seen in their local church, St. Francis. Adopting his birth town's name, a common practice of Baroque artists, Sassoferrato relocated.
Eventually moving to Rome, Sassoferrato likely received guidance from Domenichino of the Caracci school and worked closely with Baroque painter, Guido Reni. However, it was the High Renaissance master, Raphael, whose influence is most vividly seen in Sassoferrato's work.
Sassoferrato mostly created smaller devotional paintings for private collectors, a trend in the Counter Reformation era. He, however, executed a few public commissions, including pieces for Santa Sabina church in Rome and the San Pietro convent in Perugia, Umbria. Notably, his art graces the Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano's altar in Rome and it's believed his self-portrait was given to Cosimo III de' Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
He is shown in museums such as the National Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rijksmuseum, the Louvre, and The Prado. His artwork also became late 20th-century postage stamps in Italy and the U.S.
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