Pietro Cussida

He was an art collector and patron, known for his patronage of Caravaggisti artists, including Jusepe de Ribera and Dirck van Baburen.

Originally from Zaragoza, Cussida was in Rome by at least 1596, when he is a regular customer of the bank Herrera & Costa.

He is known to have had a wife, Giulia Martinez, by whom he had two sons, Gianfrancesco (or Giovan Francesco) and Luigi, who became a Carmelite friar.

[2] Laura's guardian, Nicolò Gavotti, eventually inherited the paintings and the family palazzo.

[7] It was the discovery of the 8 March 1624[8] inventory of Gianfrancesco Cussida (Archivio Storico Capitolino, Rome), Cussida's son, that led to the attribution of the works to Ribera that had previously been thought to be by the Master of the Judgement of Solomon.

Jusepe de Ribera, Allegory of Smell (1615/16), oil on canvas, 115 x 88 cm, Juan Abelló Collection, Madrid
Jusepe de Ribera, Allegory of Sight (1615/16), oil on canvas, Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico City, Mexico
Dirck van Baburen, Saint Peter , oil on canvas, 165 x 137 cm, placed in the 1624 inventory.