Baldasar Franceschini -- called il Volterranno
1611-1689
An Italian painter (Volterra 1611 - Firenze 1689). A student of M. Rosselli, he completed his artistic travels in Emilia and the Veneto. He was an admirer of the work of Pietro da Cortona and is known for his many frescoes throughout Palazzo Pitti. He played a major part in the development of the baroque in Tuscany. Specializing in frescoes, he worked in Florence at S. Maria Maggiore (the Orlandini Chapel, 1642), at SS. Annunziata (the Chapel of S. Cecelia and S. Lucia), and in the Medici villas at Petraia (1636) and Castello. He also painted canvases with brilliant and grotesque subjects (Palatine Gallery).