Jacopo Zucchi (1541 – 1590) was a Mannerist painter from Florence. He began his training in Giorgio Vasari’s studio, and, between 1557 and 1563, he participated in decoration of the Salone dei Cinquecento and the Studiolo in the Palazzo Vecchio. His first noted works were drawings from Pisa which he did while under Vasari in 1561. After completing his project in the Palazzo Vecchio, Zucchi joined the Accademia Del Disegno in Florence, which was headed by Vasari. Zucchi’s work was much influenced by Michelangelo and he helped with the decorations of his funeral. Vasari was also an astute admirer of Michelangelo. Zucchi’s work also shows marked influences from the naturalism of the Renaissance, the classical artists, as well as influences from Northern European artists. Zucchi relocated to Rome in 1572 and he was appointed to the Medici court of Cardinal Ferdinando I de’Medici.
Here he absorbed a further influence in Roman art, such as of Federico Zuccari and that of Raphael’s Roman period. While in Rome he painted in the Palazzo Rucellai and also in Ferdinando’s Palazzo Firenze. The paintings he did in Rome for Ferdinando including The Age of Gold, The Age of Iron, and the Age of Silver are all in the Uffizi Gallery now. Along with his brother Francesco, Zucchi helped decorate the dome of Santo Spirito and the apse in Sassia with a fresco of the Pentecost. Two of his canvases, representing the Resurrection and Ascension, can be found in the church of San Lorenzo Martire in San Lorenzo Nuovo. Zucchi also painted the grand salon of Ruspoli (formerly Rucellai) palace in Rome with mythologic genealogies.
