Michelangelo Cerquozzi

Michelangelo Cerquozzi painted battle scenes so lively that he was nicknamed “Michelangelo of the Battles”. He also painted genre scenes of everyday Roman street life and still lifes of fruit, in the manner of the Bamboccianti, the Dutch and Flemish painters of low life in Rome.

He was born in Rome in 1602 and at twelve entered the studio of Giuseppe Cesari. He later lived with Dutch and Flemish painters in Rome, and their influence shaped his genre work. He often collaborated with other artists, painting figures in architectural views by Viviano Codazzi, including The Revolt of Masaniello of 1648. His works are in the Prado, the Ashmolean in Oxford, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and the Gemäldegalerie in Kassel. He died in Rome in 1660.

In Soldiers Playing Dice, look for the small, lively details of ordinary life that made him popular.