Drawing

1630–1653

Frequent journeys: Italy, Spain and Flanders

Although he remained in Rome for nearly twenty-five years, he travelled frequently throughout Italy and abroad, particularly to Spain and Flanders, and established contacts with Emilian painters of the preceding generation, Guercino and Giovanni Lanfranco, who further influenced his style.

1646–1651

A house near Piazza di Spagna with Bartolomeo Dardovini

From Easter 1646 until 1651 he is recorded as living fairly steadily in Rome, in a house near Piazza di Spagna alongside Bartolomeo Dardovini, who would later become one of his collaborators. He resumed working for the Roman nobility: his “The Concert”, “The Tribute Money” and “Hagar in the Desert” entered the city’s most illustrious collections, such as those of the Sacchetti and the Pamphilj; there were also public commissions, including the abbey’s processional banner and murals for the Abbey of San Martino al Cimino in Viterbo.

4 October 1651

Summoned to the court of Francesco I d’Este in Modena

On 4 October 1651 Francesco I d’Este summoned him to the court of Modena to carry out commissioned works.