He soon devoted himself to painting, first under the guidance of his uncle Antonio Domenico Greco and then of his brother-in-law Francesco Fracanzano; later he came under various influences, especially those of the Venetians and the Flemish. He stayed in Rome for the first time from 1635 to 1639: from this period, besides some landscapes and bambocciate (a genre he would later repudiate), is the *Incredulity of St. Thomas* painted for Cardinal Brancacci, now in the Civic Museum of Viterbo.
Called to Florence by the Medici in 1640, he obtained
ROSA, SALVATORE – *Jesus among the Doctors* – Naples, National Museum, Picture Gallery.
a commission for a large canvas; however, his prolixity, his too frequent digressions, and his excessive erudition rob his satires of much of their effectiveness.