Sweerts' contributions to the Bamboccianti genre display generally greater stylistic mastery and social-philosophical sensitivity than the other artists working in this manner.

While he was successful during his lifetime, Sweerts and his work fell into obscurity until he was rediscovered in the 20th century as one of the most intriguing and enigmatic artists of his time.

[4] In Rome he became soon linked to the circle of Flemish and Dutch painters associated with Pieter van Laer, who is considered the founder of the Bamboccianti.

[5] The Bamboccianti brought existing traditions of depicting peasant subjects from sixteenth-century Netherlandish art with them to Italy.

[3] The Congregazione was a corporation of artists who organised annual exhibitions of their own paintings on the metal railings in front of the Pantheon.

[8] Despite the fragmentary nature of evidence pertaining to his career in Rome, it would appear that Sweerts succeeded in creating for himself a sufficiently solid reputation to be invited to enter into the service of the ruling papal family, the Pamphili family, and in particular Prince Camillo Pamphilj, the nephew of the reigning Pope Innocent X.

[10] It is likely that his patron Prince Camillo Pamphilj involved Sweerts in the organization of an art academy in Rome.

[11] At the instigation of Camillo, the pope bestowed upon Sweerts the papal title of Cavaliere di Cristo (Knight of Christ), the same honor enjoyed by the likes of Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini.

[5] Sweerts joined around this time the Missions Étrangères, a Catholic missionary organization, who were followers of Vincent de Paul and committed to proselytizing in the East.

It is documented that he was present in Amsterdam for a number of months in the year 1661 just prior to setting off on his trip with the Missions Étrangères to the Far East.

[3] The majority of his output falls into two categories: 'genre scenes" of low-life subjects of country and street life and portraits or tronies.

[18] Other genre paintings by of Sweerts depict low-life scenes mainly placed in the Roman Campagna or on Rome's streets in a style close to that of the Bamboccianti.

Sweerts' compositions differ, however, from those of the other Bambocciante painters by his preference for antique sculpture and the noble appearance of his often monumental figures.

Sweerts depicted the good works in a contemporary Roman environment and incorporated topographical elements from the neighborhood in which he lived at the time.

[19] Sweerts painted more compositions depicting male nudes such as the Bathing men (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg).

The picture seems to depict the main principles and stages of studio practice, starting from drawing after casts and anatomical figures in plaster and then from the live model.

In his Clothing the naked Sweerts portrayed very non-classical (i.e. Netherlandish-looking) figures whose features are emphasized by sideway glances and curious expressions.

1654, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) is a noteworthy example of his ability to capture the lively and distinctive humanity of even his most humble, anonymous subjects.

Vermeer further shows the young girl wearing an exotic turban and a pearl earring that appears too big to be real.

[15] Some of Sweerts' tronies can be traced back to the "low life" studies of characters in the Spanish Netherlands through Adriaen Brouwer and his followers to Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the 1560s.

In this depiction of a tavern habitué Sweerts succeeds in displaying his remarkable gifts for describing character as well as physical substances and light effects.

[24] The earliest known self-portrait of about 1648-50 (Uffizi) shows the artist wearing a beret with a plunging feather giving him a distinctly 'bohemian' air.

His elegant, aristocratic appearance also brings to mind the artist portraits in Iconography of Anthony van Dyck, published in Antwerp between 1636 and 1641.

The current view is that the painting is a pensieroso (pensive) portrait, a motive going back to the fifteenth-century Neoplatonic concept that melancholy is the distinguishing feature of the creative character.

The allegorical significance of the objects in the painting such as old books, empty purse, gold coins, and inkwell is consistent with this interpretation.

[26] Another allegorical composition is his Mars Destroying the Arts (Private collection) in which Sweerts portrayed a soldier plundering a violin, paintings and sculpture.

1652-54, Los Angeles County Museum of Art) is regarded as Sweerts' most ambitious work in terms not only of compositional complexity and technical achievement, but also of historical and archeological erudition.

It is clearly an attempt by the artist at proving his talent both in the depiction of a historical scene of epic proportions that encompasses a broad range of emotional and psychological states in imitation of the grand classicizing style of his older French contemporary and fellow-resident in Rome, Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665).

The historical, religious, artistic and archeological allusions of the composition would not have been evident to ordinary lay viewers but only to small group of the cultural elite who delighted in such painted puzzles.

He engraved a series of 13 plates with a Latin title, Diversae facies in usum iuvenum et aliorum ('Various faces for use by the young and others'), which served as drawing models for his academy students.