The painter and architect Santi di Tito was trained in Florence by Agnolo Bronzino. Following a sojourn in Rome where he absorbed the classicism of Raphael, in 1564, Santi joined the Accademia del Disegno in Florence and began working with Vasari on court commissions in a full-blown Mannerist style. Following Vasari’s death in 1574, Santi worked more often for churches, confraternities, and private patrons, producing altarpieces and frescoes for churches as well as devotional paintings, mythological scenes, and portraits for private clients. Stylistically he returned to the classicism of Raphael, and his religious works in particular are distinguished by their narrative clarity and sincere religious sentiment, tempered by a gentle naturalism.
