 He was born in Genoa into the well-to-do family of his father Pellegrino.In an apparent dispute over pay, he is said to have mortally wounded a patron, and was forced to flee Genoa in 1579, and take refuge in Tuscany, in the towns of Aulla sul Magra, then Pisa, and finally to Florence.He joined the "Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno" in 1568.