Biography

Baciccio was an accomplished painter of portraits, altarpieces and frescoes. He moved from Genoa to Rome in his early teens, where he met the influential sculptor and architect Gianlorenzo Bernini, who helped further his career. Baciccio's most important commission in Rome was the painting of the ceiling in the church of the Gesu, the principal church of the Jesuits. This established Baciccio's reputation as an outstanding painter of large decorative schemes. His many portraits, said to include seven popes, show him to be equally talented at creating compelling character studies.