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| Pietro della Vecchia Fortune Teller reading a Soldier's Palm ca. 1640 oil on canvas College of Optometrists, London |
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| Pietro della Vecchia Fortune Teller reading a Soldier's Palm before 1676 oil on canvas Wellcome Collection, London |
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| Pietro della Vecchia Soldier drawing a Sword ca. 1640 oil on panel Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
"Pietro della Vecchia (also sometimes called Pietro Mutoni) was born in 1602 or 1603, probably in Venice. His father, Gasparo, was a painter registered with the Venetian guild, yet the younger Vecchia probably received his initial training from Alessandro Varotari, known as Padovanino. Varotari was the leading painter of the first half of the seventeenth century in Venice, and his style attempted to recapture the classicism of Titian's early manner. Varotari had a large and successful school, and he was compared by the eighteenth-century historian Luigi Lanzi to the Carracci for the diversity and excellence obtained by his students. Varotari's pedagogy may have served as an inspiration to Vecchia, who later ran his own academy and was one of the founding members of the Collegio de Pittori, a precursor to the Venetian Academy created in 1752."
"In the 1630s, Vecchia became the preeminent religious painter of Venice, leading to his commission in 1640 for designs for new mosaic for the Basilica of Saint Mark, and to the title of Ducal Painter. Vecchia achieved this recognition as a result of his ability in the monumental manner of Venetian history painting, as established by the great masters of the sixteenth century, especially Titian. This knowledge also served Vecchia in his capacity as a restorer, and confidence in him was so great that he was called upon to restore Giorgione's Castelfranco altarpiece in 1643-1645."
"Vecchia's affection for and knowledge of Venetian sixteenth-century painting is evident not only in his original paintings and his restorations, but also in his capricious imitations of old masters, especially Giorgione and Titian. These were not simply copies or forgers in the modern sense, but rather feats of virtuosity designed to appeal to sophisticated connoisseurs. These imitations are recognizable for what may now seem exaggerations of the manners of their models, but this was perhaps less evident at the time they were painted."
– excerpts from the artist's biography in the Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
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| Pietro della Vecchia Death of Archimedes before 1676 oil on panel Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux |
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| Pietro della Vecchia Imaginary Self-portrait of Titian ca. 1650-60 oil on canvas private collection |
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| Pietro della Vecchia Doubting Thomas ca. 1670 oil on canvas Palazzo Thiene, Vicenza |
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| Pietro della Vecchia Christ at the Column ca. 1640-60 oil on canvas Galleria Estense, Modena |
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| Pietro della Vecchia Martyrdom of St Sebastian 1654 oil on canvas Pinacoteca Civica, Treviso |
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| Pietro della Vecchia St Sebastian ca. 1654 oil on canvas private collection |
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| attributed to Pietro della Vecchia Mocking of Christ before 1676 drawing Royal Collection, Great Britain |
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| Pietro della Vecchia Half-length Figure-study ca. 1643-63 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Pietro della Vecchia The Philosopher ca. 1640-60 oil on canvas Galleria Estense, Modena |
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| Pietro della Vecchia Jupiter and Semele ca. 1650-60 oil on canvas private collection |
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| Pietro della Vecchia Selene ca. 1629 oil on canvas National Trust, Kingston Lacy, Dorset |
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| Pietro della Vecchia Neptune ca. 1650 oil on canvas Musée des Augustins de Toulouse |