Francesco Maria Tassi (1716 in Bergamo – 1782) was an Italian art historian whose book, ''Lives of the Painters, Sculptors, and Architects of Bergamo,'' published posthumously in 1793, provided important biographical information on artists such as

Lorenzo Lotto Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian Renaissance painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He painted mainly altarpie ...

Fra Galgario Fra’ Galgario (4 March 1655 – December 1743), born Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi, and also called ''Fra’ Vittore del Galgario'', was an Italian painter, mainly active in Bergamo as a portraitist during the Rococo or late-Baroque period. Biogr ...

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; 5 March 1696 – 27 March 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...

, and

Francesco Zuccarelli Giacomo Francesco Zuccarelli (commonly known as Francesco Zuccarelli, ; 15 August 1702 – 30 December 1788) was an Italian artist of the late Baroque or Rococo period. He is considered to be the most important landscape painter to have emer ...

. His account of contemporaries was often enlivened by first-hand knowledge, for example with

Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; 5 March 1696 – 27 March 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an importa ...

and Zuccarelli, who at times visited Tassi at the family estate of Villa dei Tasso alla Celadina, in Bergamo. Tassi also edited a compilation of writings by

Benvenuto Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...

which appeared in print in 1829.Cellini, Benevenuto. Tassi, Francesco Maria; ed. ''Vita di Benvenuto Cellini: orefice e scultore fiorentino.'' G. Piatti. Florence, 1829. Tassi wrote a preface for the three volume work which was divided into sections for autobiography, prose, and poetry, some of the material hitherto unpublished.

Notes

1716 births 1782 deaths Writers from Bergamo Italian art historians 18th-century Italian writers 18th-century Italian male writers 18th-century historians from the Holy Roman Empire {{Authority control