He was born into a rather poor family. His father, Giambattista Vivaldi, a musician by passion, initially earned his living as a city barber. He played the violin and in this capacity was employed at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice as a member of the orchestra. He is believed to have possessed red hair color, as he was engaged to the orchestra as "Giambattista Rossi" or "Giambattista Vivaldi detto Rossetto." And he passed this trait on to the eldest of his six children, Antonio.
