Matteo Zaccolini (12 April 1574 – 13 July 1630) was an Italian painter, priest and author of the late Mannerist and early Baroque periods.
[2] He became a protégé of Cardinal Vincenzo Giustiniani, who was renowned for his patronage of painters, including Caravaggio, Nicolas Poussin and Domenichino.
Zaccolini collaborated with Baldassare Croce with the quadratura frescoes in the church of Santa Susanna, where he painted the trompe-l'œil columns.
1212): De colori treats the theory of color; Prospettiva del colore discusses practice, emphasizing the use of hue and value gradients to create the illusion of depth; Prospettiva lineale presents perspective projection and measurement; and Della descrittione dell’ombre prodotte da corpi opachi rettilinei explains the projection of cast shadows.
[5] Zaccolini's emphasis on the importance of scientific knowledge in the imitation of nature encouraged the development of a rationalist approach associated with classicism in 17th-century art.