The character, in fact the manners and the talents of Salvator Rosa came
out in strong relief, as opposed to the servile deportment and mere
professional acquirements of the herd of artists of all nations then
under the protection of the Medici. He was received at the Palazzo Pitti
not only as a distinguished artist, but as a guest; and the Medici, at
whose board Pulci (in the time of their Magnifico) had sung his Morgante
Maggiore with the fervor of a rhapsodist, now received at their table
another improvisatore, with equal courtesy and graciousness. The Tuscan
nobility, in imitation of the court, and in the desire to possess
Salvator's pictures, treated him with singular honor.