Bernardo Strozzi (Genoa 1581 – Venice 1644), Allegory of painting

This canvas is currently kept at the Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola.

“The “Allegory of Painting”, kept for several years in the Zerbone collection in Genoa, only re-emerged in the antiques market in 1973; but from that moment on, it became an integral part of Bernardo Strozzi’s Catalogue, one of the leading artists in the first half of the 17th century Italy. Strozzi completes his initial training at the workshop of the Sienese painter Pietro Sorri at the end of the 16th century and then continues his activity in Genoa. In 1598 he is accepted into the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and in 1609 and 1610 he asks permission from his superiors to be allowed to fully exercise his profession, to help support his mother and sister.

In his first works, Bernardo looks at the models of late Mannerism used by his Tuscan master, but also by other Lombard artists such as Cerano, Procaccini and Morazzone. In Genoa he is given a chance to study closely masterpieces by Caravaggio and his followers, and by artists from the Flemish school, who are to be found in the best collections of the Superba, greatly enriching his figurative lexicon. During the twenties, he discovers in Pieter Paul Rubens the chromatic-mixture richness that will become his signature”.

Click HERE for a full description in the Catalogue of Italian painting from the 17th to 18th century 2014, pg. 10-11