The Trials and Tenacity of a Young Artist in Renaissance Rome

'The Lost Murals of Renaissance Rome' exhibition at the Getty Center in Los Angeles

“Taddeo Decorating the Façade of the Palazzo Mattei,” circa 1595, by Federico Zuccaro. Pen and brown ink, and brush with brown wash over black chalk and touches of red chalk; 9 13/16 inches by 16 5/8 inches. Getty Museum. Getty Museum

Around 1543, 14-year-old Taddeo Zuccaro left his family home in Urbino, Italy, and headed off to Rome to immerse himself in art and to seek out artistic training. In four short years, at just 18 years old, Zuccaro’s murals on the façade of Palazzo Mattei made him the most talked about fresco decorator in Rome—and that was before he finished them. Even Michelangelo came to see them.

At the height of his fame, Zuccaro had a studio of artists working on the Farnese family’s frescoes at Villa Farnese in Caprarola, central Italy. But Zuccaro’s fame didn’t come overnight; it came from his resilience, resourcefulness, and diligent practice of art.