Alessandro Salucci

Alessandro Salucci (Florence, 1590 – Rome, c. 1655-60) was an Italian painter who played an important role in the development of the genre of cityscapes (vedute) of Rome. He created capricci, i.e. imaginary architectural perspectives and harbour views, in which the figures were often executed by another artist.

Very little is known about Alessandro Salucci's early life and training. He is believed to have been born in Florence in 1590. The first written record of the artist dates from 1628 when he is mentioned in connection with other artists in Rome. Salucci completed important public and private commissions in Rome.

In 1628 he made frescos in the castle of the Sacchetti family (the 'Casino Sacchetti', now 'Casino Chigi') in Castelfusano, working alongside Andrea Sacchi and Pietro da Cortona. In 1634 Salucci became member of the Roman Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke").

In 1635 he worked in the Santa Maria in Vallicella (also known as the 'Chiesa Nuova') where in the Chapel of the Presentation of Our Lady he painted fresco's on the vault, depicting the story of Hannah, Elkanah and the young Samuel. His fresco's were painted over the decorations made by Domenico de Coldie in 1590.

He began to collaborate with Jan Miel, a Flemish history and genre painter residing in Rome, around 1535. Many of their collaborative paintings have been preserved to this day, for the most part in private collections. He collaborated in a similar way with Michelangelo Cerquozzi. A few compositions painted in collaboration with Johannes Lingelbach are also known.

Salucci also got to know Viviano Codazzi, another painter of architectural paintings who had worked in Naples until 1647 and then moved to Rome. He clearly also was familiar with the work of the landscape artist Claude Lorrain then working in Rome. In 1647-48 he painted a major cycle of frescoes in the Church of Sant’Elisabetta dei Fornari, which was destroyed in 1889.

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