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