Vincenzo's father, Giuseppe Giustiniani, had been the last Genoese ruler of the Aegean island of Chios, which had been a family possession for centuries.

On Giustiniani's death - Benedetto died in 1621 - it contained over 300 paintings (15 by Caravaggio) and more than 1200 pieces of sculpture, and the various catalogues constitute an invaluable resource for early 17th-century art.

Giustiniani followed interests in many other fields, writing essays in architecture, music, and art, as well as on such practical matters as hunting, travel, and horse trading.

A friend and neighbour of Caravaggio's first patron, cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, he extended his own friendship to the artist, purchasing Saint Matthew and the Angel when it was rejected by church officials for its perceived lack of decorum.

Today the Berlin Gemäldegalerie houses 43 paintings from the Giustinani collection, while other works are to be found in Potsdam's Neues Palais and Bildergalerie Sanssouci.