Probably at the instigation of the architect Vignola (1507-1573), Passerotti received his education in Rome, as the pupil of Taddeo Zuccaro (1529-1566). He remained there for around fifteen years, during which time he earned a reputation as a distinguished portraitist, a genre he continued to pursue throughout his career. But one of Passerotti's first works following his return to Bologna, the Vir
A Netherlander by birth, Candid moved to Florence with his father, the bronze-caster Elias de Witte, when he was about ten years old. Biographical details are provided by Karel van Mander (1548-1606), whom he met in that city in 1574. According to van Mander, Candid assisted Vasari (1511-1574) with the decoration of the interior of the Sala Regia in the Vatican, as well as with the cupola of Flore