A student of Luca Cambiaso (1527-85) from around the late 1560s, they both moved to Spain in 1583, when the master accepted an invitation to work for Philip II. Although Cambiaso died shortly thereafter, Tavarone remained in Spain and is subsequently documented as working with Fabrizio Castello (c. 1560-1617) and Nicolas Granello (c. 1550-1593). He returned to Genoa in 1591, here his most successful period was that between 1610 and 1630. Here, Tavarone worked principally as a frescoist, contributing significantly to the revival of that medium. He executed elaborate frescoes at the Palazzo Spinola (1614) and at the convent of Nostra Signora dell'Orto (1617), as well as scenes depicting the Life of Christopher Columbus (c. 1620) at the Palazzo Belimbau. In 1622 he frescoed the vault of the choir in S. Lorenzo. The scale of his late oeuvre suggests that he headed a large workshop (Turner, N.: From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci. A century of Italian drawings from the Prado, Art Services International-Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p. 162).