Pietro da Cortona Oath of Semiramis before 1669 oil on copper Ashmolean Museum, Oxford |
Pietro da Cortona St Cecilia ca. 1620-25 oil on canvas National Gallery, London |
Pietro da Cortona St Constantia's Vision before the Tomb of St Agnes and St Emerentiana ca. 1654 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
Pietro da Cortona Self-portrait ca. 1635-40 oil on canvas Musée Fesch, Ajaccio, Corsica |
"The description of his character by Pascoli, who cannot have known him but was clearly well informed, suggests that Cortona moved gently through the occasionally quarrelsome artistic world of Rome, avoiding the limelight: Piero was tall and impressive in his carriage, well built and with good features, but bald and somewhat dry. He was friendly and charming, in conversation, but cautious and wary when he spoke of himself. He was quick in his answers and never obstinate in pressing his ideas. By nature he loved work, but he was not averse to conversation. . . . He knew good fortune, and it never changed either his nature or his habits – a thing rare in men who attain success. Having praised his piety and generosity to the poor, carried out in secret, F.S. Baldinucci states: All these good works were accompanied by that deep respect and esteem which he received from everyone during his life: in fact he was dear to everyone and loved and revered by people of all kinds, particularly for his conversation, which on account of its decency and charm was always agreeable and delightful. In the second version of his life of Cortona, however, Baldinucci recorded various examples of Cortona's violent temper, sometimes against a pupil who had misbehaved, sometimes against a friend who tried to reduce the price agreed for a painting. In each case the provocation seems to have been considerable. Pascoli details a particularly unpleasant episode in Cortona's studio when the young Pietro Testa challenged his master's authority and was embarrassingly rebuked by him. It seems that some other pupils who worked with him during the 1630s – Giacinto Gimignani, Giovanni Francesco Romanelli and perhaps Giovanni Maria Botalla – also left his studio on unfriendly terms."
– Jörg Martin Merz, from Pietro da Cortona and Roman Baroque Architecture (Yale University Press, 2008)
Pietro da Cortona Earthquake in an Artist's Studio ca. 1660 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |
follower of Pietro da Cortona Dancer with Cymbals ca. 1640 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
follower of Pietro da Cortona Half-figure of Hercules ca. 1630-60 drawing Princeton University Art Museum |
follower of Pietro da Cortona Head and Shoulders of a Woman ca. 1630-60 drawing Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts |
follower of Pietro da Cortona Figure-study ca.1630-60 drawing Minneapolis Institute of Art |
follower of Pietro da Cortona Weapon-maker with Cherub ca. 1630-60 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
Pietro da Cortona Adoration of Christ Crucified 1627 watercolor and gouache Palazzo Barberini, Rome |
Pietro da Cortona Portrait of Pope Urban VIII Barberini ca. 1624-26 oil on canvas Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome |
Pietro da Cortona St Peter Damian offering the Rules of the Camaldolese Order to the Virgin ca. 1629-30 oil on canvas Toledo Museum of Art (Ohio) |
Pietro da Cortona St Martina refuses to adore the Idols ca. 1654-60 oil on canvas Princeton University Art Museum |