Pietro Paolini
Pietro Paolini, called il Lucchese (3 June 1603 – 12 April 1681) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period.
[4] In Caroselli's workshop Pietro Paolini had the opportunity to study the various schools and techniques, which is reflected in the stylistic flexibility of his work.
After establishing a successful studio in Lucca he specialised in cabinet pictures often including allegorical or musical subjects and still lifes, a genre which he introduced to the city.
[7] On 25 November 1651 Paolini married Maria Forisportam Angela di Girolamo Massei, by whom he had two sons: Andrea, who became custodian of the Public Archives, and Giovanni Tommaso.
Numerous artists, such as Girolamo Scaglia, Simone del Tintore (a still-life painter) and his brothers Francesco and Cassiano, Antonio Franchi, Giovanni Coli and Filippo Gherardi were trained at the Academy.
[11] The principal themes of Paolini's work were the subjects popularized by Caravaggio in Roman painting around the turn of the 17th century.
[12] An example of a mythological composition is the early work Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes (1625-1630, J. Paul Getty Museum).
This painting dates from his early years in Rome and shows the realism and strong chiaroscuro typical of Caravaggio and his followers.
The general features of The Concert and several of its details, such as the still life of the violin and open part-book with an upturned page, are directly derived from Caravaggio's composition.
The inclusion of Cupid, who replaces Caravaggio's self-portrait with a cornetto, shows that the picture was intended as an allegory of Love and Music presented in the guise of an actual concert.
[14] Paolini created a number of portraits, often with an allegorical meaning and depicting persons engaged in a certain profession or activity.
His Man holding a mask, despite its emblematic overtones, shows a youth whose features are rendered like those of a real person.
[9] This blending of fidelity to life and idealisation, the mysterious and fascinating is also present in a group of five oval paintings that date to the first half of the 17th century.
