Agostino Tassi

Bio

Agostino Tassi was one of the outstanding quadratura specialists of the period, his most famous work being the illusionistic setting of Guercino’s celebrated Aurora fresco (1621-3) in the Casino of the Villa Ludovisi, Rome. Tassi also painted small landscapes in the manner of Bril and Elsheimer, and for centuries he was remembered mainly because he taught Claude, his significance  as a decorative painter being forgotten. His other claim to fame (or notoriety) is that in 1612 he stood trial for raping Artemisia Gentileschi. Tassi spent some time in prison and was sentenced to banishment from the Papal States, but the verdict was annulled and he was at liberty by 1613.

However, it is certain that he was a violent and unsavoury character (he is said to have raped his sister-in-law and was suspected of murdering his wife); indeed even Caravaggio’s life pales somewhat in comparison to his.