Pietro Paolini (1603 - 1681). Pietro Paolini, called il Lucchese was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Working in Rome, Venice and finally his native Lucca, he was a follower of Caravaggio to whose work he responded in a very personal manner. He founded an Academy in his hometown, which formed the next generation of painters of Lucca. Pietro Paolini was born in Lucca, as the youngest son of Tommaso Paolini and Ginevra Raffaelli. His family was well-off as his mother was a descendant of a prominent Lucchese family. Paolinis father sent his son to Rome to the workshop of Angelo Caroselli when he was 16 years old. Angelo Caroselli was a follower of Caravaggio who worked in an eclectic style. Whereas in the past the relationship between Caroselli and Paolini was regarded solely as that of a master and apprentice, more recently discovered materials point to a more complex relationship, more akin to that of collaborators and characterised by the sharing of themes. Caroselli was continuously absent from Rome from June 1616 until February 1623 so it would have been impossible for Caroselli to be Paolini's master. Paolini's documented presence in Lucca in 1626, at least for the period June-October further limits the period of their interaction. In Caroselli's workshop Pietro Paolini had the opportunity to study the various schools and techniques, which is reflected in the stylistic flexibility of his work. In Rome Paolini was exposed to the influence of the second generation of naturalist painters in the Caravaggesque tradition whose principal representative was Bartolomeo Manfredi and also included Cecco del Caravaggio and Bartolomeo Cavarozzi. From c. 1629-1631 he lived for two years in Venice where he had the opportunity to admire the works of Paolo Veronese and Tintoretto. He returned to Lucca, where he lived the remainder of his life. His parents had died in previous years and he needed to support his many siblings. After establishing a successful studio in Lucca he specialised in cabinet pictures often including allegorical or musical subjects and still lifes, a genre which he introduced to the city. He received multiple commissions from religious institutions in Lucca as well as prominent local citizens. On 25 November 1651 Paolini married Maria Forisportam Angela di Girolamo Massei, by whom he had two sons: Andrea, who became custodian of the Public Archives, and Giovanni Tommaso. Around 1652 Paolini founded the 'Academy of Painting and Drawing of Lucca', at which he helped train many painters. The Academy contributed to a particularly lively artistic environment in Lucca in the second half of the 17th century. Numerous artists, such as Girolamo Scaglia, Simone del Tintore and his brothers Francesco and Cassiano, Antonio Franchi, Giovanni Coli and Filippo Gherardi were trained at the Academy. Pietro Testa may also have been a pupil of Paolini. Paolini owned a collection of coins and plaster casts taken from ancient models as well as a collection of ancient and modern weapons that were used as models and props in the Academy. Paolini later almost entirely abandoned painting in order to devote himself to teaching. He died in Lucca in 1681. Only two works in Paolini's oeuvre can be dated with any certainty. They are the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine signed and dated 1636 and the Birth of Saint John the Baptist commissioned the following year for Santa Maria Corteorlandini. These are both dateable to immediately after the artist's return to Lucca. The rest of his body of work is largely undocumented. The principal themes of Paolini's work were the subjects popularized by Caravaggio in Roman painting around the turn of the 17th century. They included depictions of low-class people such as fraudsters, charlatans, hawkers, prostitutes and musicians. He typically only placed a few figures in a scene. Characteristic of Paolini's work are the balanced, simple division of the canvases, the plasticity of the figures, the enigmatically vague expressions, the smooth, radiant complexion of the figures as well as the accuracy in which he rendered materials and objects such as musical instruments. Paolini also painted religious and mythological compositions during his early days and a few ones on commission when he was back in Lucca. These religious compositions form only a small part of his oeuvre. An example of a mythological composition is the early work Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes. The thesis that Paolini was a painter of still lifes because he was the master of a leading still-life painter like Simone del Tintore is not well supported. In the few compositions in which his hand is clearly recognizable it is clear that Paolini limited his intervention to the figures.