Cresti was born in Passignano, currently a frazione of Barberino Tavarnelle about 30 km south of Florence, and was educated by the local Vallombrosan monks.

He had travelled to Venice as an assistant to Federico Zuccari, who had employed him previously in the completion of Giorgio Vasari's The Last Judgment on the ceiling of the dome of Florence Cathedral.

As a result of this gift, he was nicknamed Passa Ognuno ("[He] Passes Everyone") – a possible play upon the name of his birthplace.

Other works by Passignano can be found in the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle (Barberini Chapel), the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (Baptistery ceilings) and Santa Maria in Vallicella (altarpiece of the Chapel of the Annunciation) in Rome, San Frediano in Pisa, in the Uffizi Gallery, and his Our Lady of the Jacobins (1630) in the Besançon Cathedral.

He also painted frescoes for the Vallumbrosan Badia di Passignano in his hometown.