Sebastiano Bombelli

He was born in Udine on 14 or 15 October 1635 (baptized on the 15th), educated and trained under the guidance of his father Valentino and the godfather Girolamo Lugaro, he moved from a young age to Venice where, after a period of specialization with Guercino in Bologna, he began his career studying the manner of Paolo Veronese, quickly becoming one of his greatest connoisseurs.

[1] His first surviving work dates back to 1665, it is the Portrait of Benedetto Mangilli (Civici Musei, Galleria d'Arte Antica, Udine), a painting that shows influences from Bernardo Strozzi.

[1] Del 1675 is the first Self-portrait (Civici Musei, Galleria d'Arte Antica, Udine), characterized by a marked introspective vein and free from the embellishments typical of the official portrait which had made it famous to Venice.

One of his many followers was Fra' Galgario (Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi) who spent a decade in Venice and had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with Bombelli.

Sebastiano Bombelli was also an art expert: being the greatest connoisseur of Paolo Veronese, he was often contacted to verify the authenticity of works that surfaced on the market.