Orazio Gentileschi

Orazio Gentileschi was one of the first painters to follow Caravaggio in Rome, but his version is gentler: cool, silvery light, clear colour and beautifully painted fabrics, with calm, graceful figures instead of violent drama.

He was born in Pisa in 1563 and spent his early career in Rome as a Mannerist painter before meeting Caravaggio around 1600. He later worked in Genoa and Paris, and from 1626 in London at the court of Charles I, where he painted ceilings for the Queen’s House in Greenwich. He was the father and teacher of Artemisia Gentileschi. He died in London in 1639.

His Annunciation in Turin and his Danaë stand out for their pale, shimmering drapery and still, intimate mood.