About the Artist

Giovanni Battista Rosso (1494 Florence-1540 Fontainebleau) was trained as an artist in the atelier of Andrea del Sarto. Around 1520 he worked in Volterra for a year, but then returned to Florence. Hoping for commissions from Pope Clement VII (1523-1534), he moved to Rome in 1524, but in 1527 Rosso had to flee from the sacco di Roma (sacking of Rome) and spent several years restlessly wandering between Perugia, An Sepolcro, Citta di Castello and Arezzo. In 1530, upon the recommendation of his friend Pietro Arretino, Rosso was called to the French court and put in charge of the interior redecorations of the Fontainebleau Castle. Here he created his masterpiece, the decoration of the Gallery of Francois I, with frescoes and ornamental plaster work. Rosso's style, along with that of his colleague Primaticcio, became known as the School of Fontainebleau. The artist's other major works include Madonna with Ten Saints, 1522, Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence; The Engagement of the Virgin, 1523, San Lorenzo, Florence; and Leda and the Swan, 1530, The Royal Academy, London.