Career
He was the pupil of Carlo Cignani. A native of Sant"Angelo in Vado, he was a student of Carlo Cignani at Forlì and at Bologna and was introduced to academic painting in the manner of the Carracci. Echoes of this style of painting can be seen in his juvenile works: the frescoes of the Libreria in the main hall of the Biblioteca Classense in Ravenna, and those in Foligno Cathedral of the life of Angela di Foligno.
On the advice of the artist Marcantonio Franceschini, vice-principal of the Accademia Clementina in Bologna, he moved to Rome, where he made contact with Carlo Maratta, also a native of the Marche.
This contact with Maratta"s more mature work, and with his pupils, is reflected by a development in Mancini"s painting. From this period are the frescoes in the Palazzo del Quirinale, those in the Chiesa Nuova dei Filippini in Perugia (1730), in the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Misericordia in Macerata (1736), and others at Sant"Angelo in Vado, Forlì and Rimini.
Francesco Mancini was held by his contemporaries as one of the best painters of the time: above all, the clear and luminous tones of his work were admired. His pupils included Sebastiano Ceccarini, Domenico Corvi, Niccolò Lapiccola of Crotone and Canon Giovanni Andrea Lazzarini.