Santi di Tito (5 December 1536 – 25 July 1603) was one of the most influential and leading Italian painters of the proto-

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style – what is sometimes referred to as "Counter-Maniera" or Counter-Mannerism.

Biography

He was born in Sansepolcro. There is little documentation to support the alleged training under

Bronzino Agnolo di Cosimo (; 17 November 150323 November 1572), usually known as Bronzino ( ) or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italians, Italian Mannerism, Mannerist painter from Florence. His sobriquet, ''Bronzino'', may refer to his relatively dark skin or r ...

or Baccio Bandinelli. From 1558 to 1564, he worked in Rome on

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es in Palazzo Salviati and the Sala Grande of the Belvedere (''Homage of the People'') alongside Giovanni de' Vecchi and Niccolò Circignani. He acquired a classical trait, described as ''

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

esque'' by S. J. Freedberg. This style contrasted with the reigning ornate Roman painterliness of

Federico Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick (given name), Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Italian language, Italian. People with the given name Federico Ar ...

and

Taddeo Zuccari Taddeo Zuccaro (or Zuccari) (1 September 15292 September 1566) was an Italian painter, one of the most popular members of the Roman mannerist school. Biography Zuccaro was born in Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino, the son of Ottaviano Zuccaro, ...

or their Florentine equivalents:

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work '' Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ide ...

, Alessandro Allori, and

. After returning to Florence in 1564, he joined the Accademia del Disegno. He contributed two conventionally

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

paintings for the Duke's study and laboratory, the Studiolo of Francesco I in the

Palazzo Vecchio The ( "Old Palace") is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the , which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. Originally called the ''Palazzo della Signoria'', a ...

. This artistic project was partly overseen by

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

. These paintings – the ''Sisters of Fetonte (Phaeton)'' and ''Hercules and Iole'' – like many of those in the studiolo, are stylized and overcrowded. Baldinucci recounts that Santi completely rejected the ''maniera'' of Bronzino, and embraced a classical Reformist and naturalistic style.F. Baldinucci, Notizie dei professori del disegno da Cimabue in qua, (1681-1728) 2, pp. 540-544., ed. by F. Ranalli, Florence 1845-1847. Santi went on to contribute a ''Sacra Conversazione'' for the Ognissanti and painted two altarpieces for Santa Croce in Florence: a crowded but monumental ''Resurrection'' (1570–74), and a creatively inspired and decorous ''Supper at Emmaus'' (1574). Santi also painted a ''Resurrection of Lazarus'' for Volterra Cathedral; a ''Madonna'' for San Salvatore al Vescovo; a ''Burial of Christ'' for S. Giuseppe; a ''Baptism of Christ by St John'' for the Corsini palace,

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. Santi died in Florence on July 23, 1603. Santi's mature style and likely his masterpiece is found in his masterpiece of the '' Vision of Saint Thomas Aquinas'', also known as ''Saint Thomas dedicating his works to Christ'' located in the church of

San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestiere (Venice), sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Piazza San Marco, Saint Mar ...

in Florence. It expresses a simple, pious gesture that appeared to have been lost from the courtly sensibility of Italian painting since the days of

, while maintaining the brittle, demarcated colour that is classic of Tuscan works. The work has an earnest fervour lacking in his earlier mannerist works, which sometimes appear like a collection of posed statues over-painted with skin hues. This new contra-maniera style finds some echoes in the rising Bolognese Baroque style of the Carracci. Among his pupils were Ludovico

Cigoli Lodovico or Ludovico Cardi (21 September 1559 – 8 June 1613), also known as Cigoli, was an Italian painter and architect of the late Mannerist and early Baroque period, trained and active in his early career in Florence, and spending the last ...

, the leading painter of art Reform in late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Florence. Another pupil named

Francesco Mochi Francesco Mochi (29 July 1580 Montevarchi – 6 February 1654 Rome) was an Italian early-Baroque Sculptor (occupation), sculptor active mostly in Rome, Piacenza and Orvieto. His dramatic early works in Orvieto are now often regarded as the first ...

became a prominent sculptor in the

style and created, among other pieces, the colossal '' Saint Veronica'', in the crossing of St. Peter's Basilica in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Works

;Paintings *''Resurrection of Lazarus'' (1576) - Santa Maria Novella, Florence *''Sacred Conversation'' *''Annunciation'' (1576) - Santa Maria Novella, Florence *''Building of the Temple of Solomon'' (1570-71) - Chapel of St Luke, Annunziata *''Sisters of Phaeton'' (1572) - Studiolo of Francesco I,

, Florence *''Hercules and Iole'' (1572) - Studiolo of Francesco I,

, Florence *''Pietà with Saints and Military Officer'' - , Florence *''Holy Family with St. Elizabeth and John the Baptist' *''Tobie and the Angel'' (circa 1575) - Saint-Eustache, Paris *''Doubting Thomas'' (1583) - Duomo, Borgo San Sepolcro *''Crucifixion'' (1588) - Santa Croce, Florence *''Marriage at Cana'' (1593) - Villa I Collazzi, near Scandicci *''Supper at Emmaus'' (1588) - Sant Croce *''Annunciation'' (1602) - Santa Maria Novella *''Four ages of Woman and the Written Law'' - Musee Fesch,

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

* ''Christ'' - Mykolas Zilinskas Art Museum, Kaunas, Lithuania *''Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well'' - Blanton Art Museum, Austin, Texas ;Architecture * San Tommaso d'Aquino oratory, in Florence *Saint Micheal Rotunda, in Petrognano * Palazzo Nonfinito staircase, in Florence * Palazzo Dardinelli-Fenzi, in Florence *Palazzo Zanchini-Corbinelli, in Florence *Palazzo di Santi di Tito (own house), in Florence * San Michele Convent (Villa di Doccia), near

Fiesole Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. ...

*Villa di Motrone, in Peretola (Florence) *Villa dei Collazzi, in Giogoli ( Scandicci) *Villa Le Corti, in San Casciano

Gallery

File:Santi di tito, allegoria dell'estate.JPG, ''Allegory of the State'' (Pushkin Museum) File:Santi di Tito Hercules y Omfale Studiolo.jpg, ''Hercules and Omphalus'', Studiolo of Francesco I File:Santi di Tito El paso del Mar rojo Studiolo.jpg, ''Crossing Red Sea'', Studiolo of Francesco I File:Santi di Tito 001.jpg, ''Sisters of Phaeton'', Studiolo of Francesco I File:Santi di Tito Adoration of the Magi.jpg, Adoration of Magi, Church of St. Martin in

Krzeszowice Krzeszowice () is a town in southern Poland, situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. As of 2004, its population was 9,993. Krzeszowice belongs to ''Kraków Metropolitan Area'', and lies 25 kilometers west of the center of the city of Krakó ...

File:Santi di Tito - The Annunciation - Walters 371677.jpg, ''Annunciation'' File:Duomo di sansepolcro, interno, santi di tito, incredulità di san tommaso.JPG, ''Incredulity of Thomas'' File:Eglise di Saint Eustache, Santi di Tito, Tobia e l'Angelo.JPG, ''Tobias and Angel'', Saint-Eustache, Paris File:Ognissanti, Santi di Tito, Sacra covesazione.JPG, ''Sacred Conversation'' ( Ognissanti, Florence) File:Ognissanti, altare dell'assunta, santi di tito e maso da san friano, assunta 02.JPG, ''Assumption of Virgin'' (with Maso da San Friano, in Ognissanti) File:Santi di tito, Moltiplicazione dei pani, 1592, 01.jpg, ''Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes''

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tito, Santi di 1536 births 1603 deaths Place of death missing People from Sansepolcro 16th-century Italian architects 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Painters from Tuscany Italian Renaissance painters Italian Mannerist painters Catholic painters