Aspects of Italian Painting Around 1650
The range of genres and styles was extraordinarily rich in the middle of the 17th Century. The painters gathered in this room shared the ability to move from one genre to another and to integrate themselves into other cultures. Bernardo Strozzi, the great Genoese painter, brilliant in all genres, was obliged to flee to Venice. There he joined other foreigners like Fetti and Lyss in becoming a reformer of painting and achieved great success as a portait painter.
Pietro Ricchi, originally from Lucca in Tuscany, travelled in France and Lombardy before settling in Venice. His spirited, elegant style shows the effects of all these influences. The Piedmontese, Benaschi, was active in Rome and Naples, where his swirling decorations heralded the Rococo style. Reschi, originally from Danzig, was one of these battle painters in the tradition of Jacques Courtois and Salvator Rosa. Lauri was the son of a Flemish painter. He was a painter of historical scenes but his landscapes betray his origins. Flaminio Torri personified the survival in Bologna of the styles established by Guido Reni.
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