Pietro Paolini

Pietro Paolini was an Italian Baroque painter active in the seventeenth century. Born in Lucca in 1603, he trained in Rome, where he absorbed the dramatic light and shadow of the followers of Caravaggio. He painted religious and mythological scenes as well as lively pictures of musicians, drinkers, and everyday characters lit in that bold, theatrical manner.

Returning to his home city of Lucca, he founded an academy and became an influential local teacher. His genre scenes, full of vivid faces and strong lighting, are especially admired today. Paolini is remembered as a talented follower of the Caravaggesque style and an important figure in the art of his native Tuscany.