Tommaso Salini (ca. 1570–1625 )

• Also known as Mao Salini.
• Was an Italian painter.
• He is best remembered for defending his friend, Giovanni Baglione, in his libel suit against Caravaggio and other painters in his circle.
• He joined the Accademia di San Luca in 1605.
• Salini is a frequently forgotten Baroque artist who fell under the spell of Caravaggio, despite having a tempestuous relationship with the great painter.
• Salini was a friend of Giovanni Baglione, the Italian art biographer, who included Salini in his Le vite de’ pittori.
• In order for Salini's oeuvre to be presented with accuracy, connoisseurs have had to inspect the original works that Baglione mentions as being by Salini's hand, as well as the pictures that have been successfully attributed to him.
• The displayed painting is a crop from: Ottavio Leoni, Portrait of Tommaso Salini (ca. 1578-1630), 1620.
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