(b Siena, Feb 21, 1558; d Rome, Aug 22, 1630). Italian physician, art historian and connoisseur. His medical career culminated with his appointment in 1623 as personal physician to Urban VIII. His interest in the arts, notably painting and dance, cannot be securely dated before 1617 when he started writing his most famous work, Alcune considerazioni appartenenti alla pittura come di diletto di un gentilhuomo nobile, and its twin Alcune considerationi intorno a quello che hanno scritto alcuni autori in materia della pittura (completed in 1621 but with later emendations). The first is divided into ten sections: the first two (20 folios) are introductory and theoretical; the following four (94 folios) are historical, organized by periods and schools; and the last four (46 folios) discuss topics that would interest collectors, including observations on how to distinguish quality, or an original work from a copy, or the age of a painting, as well as how to buy, frame, install and conserve them. The second work is divided into three sections: first a critique of Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo, including his etymology of ...