Taddeo rebuffed by Francesco II Sant’Angelo, ca. 1595

The journeyman years were often a compulsory element of an art education. Young artists were nonetheless not always accepted in the atelier of their choice, because guilds frequently placed restrictions on the numbers of incoming specialists they would accept. The Italian painter Federico Zuccari (ca. 1541–1609) portrayed one such case: that of his brother, Taddeo Zuccari (1529–1566) from Sant’Angelo near Urbino, who was barred from being taken on in the studio of Perino del Vaga (1501–1547) in Rome. This cycle of images (right to left) shows Zuccari’s cousin, the painter Francesco il Sant’Angelo. He worked for Vaga himself, but turned his kinsman unceremoniously away. On the left of the image, we see the deeply disappointed Taddeo Zuccari turning his back on the atelier.

Federico Zuccari (ca. 1541–1609), Taddeo turned away by Francesco II Sant’Angelo, drawing, 17.9 cm x 41.5 cm, ca. 1595, source: Getty Museum Collection, inv. no. 134690, https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/108ET4, public domain.