Comment: The Date of Francesco Salviati's French Journey

Abstract

Francesco Salviati spent nearly two years in France at the height of his career in the 1550s. The exact dates of this journey have never been established, though they are of some importance for the chronology of his later work, not least his drawings, and for the chronology of decorative projects in which he played some part. Scholars have generally accepted Vasari's statement that the French sojourn began in 1554 and ended twenty months later, and, at most, they have recognized that the voyage may not have actually gotten underway until 1555.' This would mean, however, that Salviati carried out an extraordinary number of fresco cycles in the six years after his return to Rome from Florence in the autumn of 1548-religious works, sometimes entire chapels, at the Cancelleria, S. Maria dell'Anima, the Oratory of S. Giovanni Decollato, S. Salvatore in Lauro, and S. Maria del Popolo, and large reception rooms in the Palazzo Farnese and the Palazzo Ricci-Sacchetti. On the