The Conversion of Saint Paul, after Francesco Salviati

Encouraged by success in Rome, Salviati returned to his native Florence in the early 1540s. For a brief period he challenged the artistic supremacy of Angelo Bronzino at the court of Cosimo de’ Medici. This extraordinary engraving, dedicated on the stone in the left foreground to “the generosity of Cosimo de’ Medici”, was part of his efforts to bolster his position. Pietro Aretino, a prominent literary figure, praised the print’s “stupendous composition” and “sublime invention” in a long letter to Salviati. In this impression, the printing of the right-hand plate is weaker and the effect somewhat unbalanced.