Piero di Cosimo was a unique personality, his imaginative inventions quite unlike the paintings of his contemporaries. An eccentric painter of mythological and religious subject matter, Piero began his education as the assistant of Cosimo Rosselli. Taking his master’s name of Cosimo, Piero followed Rosselli to Rome before returning to Florence to paint altarpieces and decorative panels for the palaces of Florentine patrons. The few works attributed to him show his sense of whimsy in his unorthodox narratives and expressive figures. Known as a peculiar and eccentric genius, he exerted great influence on Florentine painting through his pupils Fra Bartolomeo, Mariotto Albertinelli, Jacopo Pontormo, and Andrea del Sarto.