The 1568 edition of Giorgio Vasari’s The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects praises the inhabitants of Modena as “great artificers of our arts”. Among them Vasari recalls Nicolò dell’Abate, crediting him with the painted decorations on the frieze of the Palazzo delle Beccherie that contained the butcher's shops, which he completed in 1537 together with the master Alberto Fontana. This was the beginning of a successful career that would see him decorate the castles of Scandiano and Soragna as well as the chambers of the Palazzo Torfanini and Palazzo Poggi in Bologna. Summoned to France in 1552 by Henry II on the recommendation of the renowned artist Francesco Primaticcio, the Modena painter worked at his side in the halls of Fontainebleau Palace, also painting other works for the French court and nobility, which have since been lost.