Artist

(b. 1592, Pratovecchio, d. 1664, Firenze)

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Details

Italian painter. At an early age he entered the studio of Matteo Rosselli in Florence, and his first works, Virgin and Saints (1616; Santa Brigida, Santuario della Madonna del Sasso, Florence) and the ceiling painting Love of the Fatherland (1616; Casa Buonarroti, Florence), were influenced by Rosselli and Ludovico Cigoli. In 1616 he enrolled at the Accademia del Disegno in Florence, becoming an academician in 1622. In the 1620s he moved away from Rosselli's influence and developed a style distinguished by dramatic light effects, rich colour and painterly technique and by the expression of deep emotion. The decade opened with the Investiture of St Benedict (1620; Seminario Maggiore, Florence), one of a series of works painted in honour of St Benedict for the Confraternità di San Benedetto Bianco, to which Vignali had belonged since 1614. Having learnt the technique of fresco painting from Rosselli, he also began to work in that medium and was involved in the decoration of the Casa Buonarroti throughout the decade, the ceiling fresco Jacob's Dream dating from 1621. In 1622-23 he also contributed to important fresco cycles for the Medici at the Casino Mediceo di San Marco in Florence, and at the Villa del Poggio Imperiale just outside the city. From around 1622, when he was elected to the Accademia del Disegno, Vignali began his career as an independent artist and executed numerous commissions throughout Tuscany. He was retiring yet affable, a Florentine with no interest in leaving Florence, a bachelor dedicated to his profession, as an exemplar of piety. Vignali enjoyed a productive career, and on his death the members of the Accademia del Disegno buried him with honours. Among his pupils were Domenico Bettini, Romolo Panfi, Alessandro Rosi, and Carlo Dolci. //

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Category	Artists
Artists by letter	V
Artist nationality	Italian