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| Pietro Testa The Massacre of the Innocents ca. 1630-50 oil on canvas Galleria Spada, Rome |
"Testa's depiction of The Massacre of the Innocents has little in common with the usual treatments of this familiar biblical theme. He infuses even this gruesome event with the poetic aura of his mythological histories. The biblical story becomes a mood painting, an oriental fairy tale. In terms of color and luminosity this is Testa's most perfect achievement. Even the brittleness and the arbitrary manner of composition are not unpleasant; indeed they are subordinated as essential expressive means for the poetic vision."
– Hermann Voss, from Baroque Painting in Rome (1925), revised and translated by Thomas Pelzel (San Francisco: Alan Wofsy, 1997)
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| Pietro Testa Rachel hides the Idols of Laban ca. 1630 oil on canvas Bildergalerie Sanssouci, Potsdam |
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| Pietro Testa Sacrifice of Iphigenia ca. 1640-42 drawing Victoria & Albert Museum |
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| Pietro Testa Sacrifice of Iphigenia ca. 1640-42 oil on canvas Galleria Spada, Rome |
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| Pietro Testa Death of Dido ca. 1648-50 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Pietro Testa Death of Dido ca. 1648-50 oil on canvas Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
"Born in Lucca, Pietro Testa went to Rome at an early age, where he attached himself to the artistic current directed toward a revival of antique life and antique ideas. He is supposed to have been close to Domenichino, but he soon applied himself chiefly to the study of antique statues and reliefs, taking his inspiration from the facade painter Polidoro da Caravaggio and other pioneers of the classical movement. He was also encouraged by Nicolas Poussin's patron, Cassiano dal Pozzo, through whom he became familiar with Poussin and his circle, especially with Pietro da Cortona. . . . Testa's most familiar world was that of classical mythology, which in his numerous graphic works and some of his paintings he spreads before us with spirit and richness of fantasy. In this respect he appears in fact to be a kindred spirit and a fellow striver with Poussin, and not simply his slavish imitator. . . . Testa also represents within the circle of Cortona – in this respect he is comparable to Giovanni Francesco Romanelli and Giacinto Gimignani – an artistic manner with especially close affinities to French classicism. As a visionary in his poetic sensitivities and manner of representation, however, he remained a unique phenomenon in Rome. The innermost ideals of Roman art were as foreign to him as they were to his friend Pier Francesco Mola, who might in a certain sense be considered, along with Salvator Rosa, as the – albeit more successful – followers of the path he had initiated."
– Hermann Voss, from Baroque Painting in Rome (1925), revised and translated by Thomas Pelzel (San Francisco: Alan Wofsy, 1997)
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| Pietro Testa Virgin lamenting over the Dead Christ before 1650 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Pietro Testa Dead Christ mourned by Angels ca. 1645 oil on canvas Ashmolean Museum, Oxford |
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| attributed to Pietro Testa Study for Thieves on the Cross before 1650 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Pietro Testa Presentation of the Virgin ca. 1642 oil on canvas Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Pietro Testa Presentation of the Virgin ca. 1642 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Pietro Testa Martyrdom of St Stephen ca. 1633 oil on canvas Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire |
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| Pietro Testa Final Communion of a Saint before 1650 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| attributed to Pietro Testa Augustus at the Tomb of Alexander the Great ca. 1640-45 oil on canvas Palazzo Barberini, Rome |
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| Pietro Testa Allegory of Genius escaping Time ca. 1644 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |