Ottavio Vannini was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 artist of the Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 period, active mainly in Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

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Born in Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

 to Michele Vannini. He initially apprenticed for four years with a mediocre painter by the name of Giovanni Battista Mercati, but he then trained in Rome under Anastasio Fuontebuoni. He returned to Florence to work with Domenico Passignani. He painted a St Vincent Ferrer for the church of San Marco, Florence

San Marco, Florence

San Marco is the name of a religious complex in Florence, Italy. It comprises a church and a convent. The convent, which is now a museum, has three claims to fame: during the 15th century it was home to two famous Dominicans, the painter Fra Angelico and the preacher, Girolamo Savonarola...

; and an Adoration of the Magi for the church of the Carmine

Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence

Santa Maria del Carmine is a church of the Carmelite Order, in the Oltrarno district of Florence, in Tuscany, Italy. It is famous as the location of the Brancacci Chapel housing outstanding Renaissance frescoes by Masaccio and Masolino da Panicale, later finished by Filippino Lippi.-History:The...

. He painted the altarpiece for the chapel of the Holy Sacrament in the cathedral of Colle Val d'Elsa. He painted a Tancred and Erminia and an Ecce Homo now in the Palazzo Pitti. He painted a Communion of St. Jerome for the church of Santa Ana.

In 2007, Vannini's 1640 work, The Triumph of David (on loan from the Haukohl Family Collection) hanging at the Milwaukee Art Museum's Early European Gallery was attacked by a person described as having a history of mental illness. It was reported he was disturbed by the image of Goliath's severed head.