Genoese School (painting)

Unlike Florence, Ferrara, Rome, Rimini, and Venice, Genoa was not developed into a significant arts center during the Renaissance.

An original school of painting arose in the 1600s, developing Flemish contacts after visits by Rubens and van Dyck.

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, called Il Grechetto, took up a genre already made famous by Sinibaldo Scorza with paintings of animals and still lifes under Flemish and Venetian influence.

Domenico Fiasella and Gioacchino Assereto joined the Caravaggesque followers, while Valerio Castello was more eclectic.

In the first half of the 18th century Alessandro Magnasco dominated painting with his strange personality, his nervous technique and his exaggerated chiaroscuro; his expressionistic distortions created a fantastic world reminiscent of Salvator Rosa, Marco Ricci, and Francesco Guardi.