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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Study after the Belvedere Torso ca. 1585 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino St Lawrence among the Poor and Sick before 1588 oil on canvas (grisaille) Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Allegorical Figure ca. 1588 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Discovery of Romulus and Remus 1596 fresco Palazzo dei Conservatori, Musei Capitolini, Rome |
"Giuseppe Cesari, the son of a painter of votive images, was born in 1568, likely in the small town of Arpino, located between Rome and Naples. After moving to Rome, probably in 1582, he was apprenticed to Nicolò Circignani (1530/35-1596), a painter working in a maniera style developed in Rome under the influence of Federico Zuccaro. Cesari participated in the decoration of the Logge of Gregory XIII in the Vatican and in subsequent projects executed by groups of artists working under Circignani's direction. . . . Cesari received his first independent commission in 1588, at the age of 20, for frescoes in S. Lorenzo in Damaso (lost but known through copies). These frescoes broke with the style of his teacher Circignani and reflected study of earlier Roman fresco cycles by Girolamo Muziano (1532-1592), a Brescian trained in Padua. . . . Cesari further developed this style in a series of major commissions executed in Rome and Naples during the 1590s. . . . Cesari's position as the most prominent painter in Rome brought him the commission for scenes from Roman history in the Palazzo dei Conservatori in 1595 (executed 1595-1640), as well as close, personal ties with the papal court. He was made a Cavaliere di Cristo by Pope Clement VIII . . . In addition to executing commissions for large fresco cycles and numerous altarpieces, Cesari made a specialty of small pictures executed for private patrons, both Roman and foreign. These cabinet pictures were quite unlike those of his Roman contemporaries and expanded a market previously served by foreigners or artists working outside Rome. Cesari executed these paintings on panel, copper, or slate to accentuate their delicate technique and high finish."
– extracts from the artist's biography in the Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Perseus and Andromeda 1592 oil on slate Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Figure of a Man throwing Stones ca. 1590 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Study for Bacchus ca. 1590-1600 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Archangel Michael and the Rebel Angels ca. 1592-93 oil on copper Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Half-length Figure-study ca. 1595 drawing private collection |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Rest on the Flight into Egypt ca. 1596-97 oil on copper Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Taking of Christ ca. 1597 oil on panel Museumslandschaft Hessen, Kassel |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Head of Tullus Hostilius 1597 drawing Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino Mocking of Christ 1598 oil on canvas Chiesa di San Carlo ai Catinari, Rome |
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| Cavaliere d'Arpino David with the Head of Goliath 1598 oil on canvas Koelliker Collection, Milan |