Palma Giovane

Painter and etcher; born in Venice. Son of Antonio Palma and great-nephew of Jacopo Palma I, called 'il Vecchio'. Virtually self-taught. In 1567 Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, became his patron. The Duke sent him to Rome to study in c.1573-4, where he was apprenticed to an unknown artist. In 1577 he received first major public commission painting three canvases for the ceiling of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio. Decorated the oratory of the Crociferi, Venice, between 1583-92. After the death of Tintoretto in 1594, he became the most esteemed artist in Venice and one of the most prolific.