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| attributed to Giovanni Cesare Testa Portrait of Pietro Testa late 17th century etching, engraving National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa Adoration of the Shepherds ca. 1637 oil on canvas National Galleries of Scotland |
"Pietro Testa, one of the most remarkable artists in the circle of Nicolas Poussin, was an enigmatic and melancholic painter active in Rome from about 1630 until his early death – probably by his own hand – in 1650. During his short career he became famous for the inventiveness and technical brio of his prints and drawings, which constitute his most important artistic contribution. Following the seventeenth century, however, Testa's reputation suffered a decline, partly because of the complexities of his personality and the circumstances of his death, and partly because the demanding theoretical programs of his prints caused them to be misunderstood as extravagant and irrational fantasies. Instead, Testa was dedicated to an art that was rational, moral, and pat of the great Italian tradition nurtured by the Carracci Academy, as witnessed by his meditative process of invention, his careful preparation through drawings for work on the plate, his mastery of chiaroscuro, and his creative exploration of a lifetime's study of antiquity. He was, moreover, a genuine independent, almost in the modern sense, working for himself more than for others and often looking for patrons to whom he could dedicate his prints only after he had produced ambitious and time-consuming inventions on the plate."
– curator's text from the introduction to a 1989 exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art: Pietro Testa, 1612-1650: Prints and Drawings
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| Pietro Testa Adoration of the Magi before 1650 etching National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa Holy Family with Angels before 1650 etching National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa Holy Family with the infant St John holding an apple before 1650 etching National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa Christ in the house of Simon before 1650 drawing National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa Holy Family with Putti before 1650 drawing National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa Virgin and Child with two Angels before 1650 drawing National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa Death of St Anthony before 1650 drawing National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa St Sebastian before 1650 etching, engraving National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa St Jerome before 1650 etching National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa Martyrdom of St Erasmus before 1650 etching National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa Saints Martin, Paulinus and Theodore invoking the Virgin against the plague before 1650 etching National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Pietro Testa Sacrifice of Isaac before 1650 etching National Galleries of Scotland |