Tassi, Agostino

As a boy, Agostino Buonamici was a page in the home of the Marchese Tassi in Rome; he was afterwards known by the name "Tassi." His patrons included the Medici family, Pope Paul V, and the Borghese family. Agostino is best known for illusionistic architectural decorations in fresco (quadratura) and small landscapes in oil. Some historical sources list the birth date as earlier, 1566, and in Perugia rather than Rome. He spent a year in prison for assault against Orazio Gentilleschi's daughter, Artemesia; some modern scholarship disputes his guilt regarding the conviction. Comment on works: Religious; Landscapes