Born in
Florence to Michele Vannini. He initially apprenticed for four years with a mediocre painter by the name of Giovanni Battista Mercati (possibly the
engraver), but he then trained in Rome under
Anastasio Fuontebuoni. He returned to Florence to work with
Domenico Passignani. He painted a
St Vincent Ferrer for the church of
San Marco, Florence; and an
Adoration of the Magi for the church of the
Carmine. He painted the altarpiece for the chapel of the Holy Sacrament in the cathedral of
Colle Val d'Elsa. He painted a
Tancred and Erminia and an
Ecce Homo now in the Palazzo Pitti. He painted a
Communion of St. Jerome for the church of
Santa Anna. In 2007, Vannini's 1640 work,
The Triumph of David (on loan from the Haukohl Family Collection) hanging at the
Milwaukee Art Museum's Early European Gallery was attacked by a person described as having a history of mental illness. It was reported he was disturbed by the image of Goliath's severed head. ==Notes==