Galerie Paul Prouté

A native of Lucca and an artist with a shady spirit, Testa spent most of his career in Rome without ever having received any formal training, apart from two short periods in the studios of the Dominiquin and Pietro di Cortona. His talents as a draughtsman brought him to the attention of Joachim von Sandrart, who enlisted him in the major project for the Galleria Giustiniani, around 1630-1631, and then of Cassiano del Pozzo, for whom he executed a number of drawings based on the works of antiquity in Rome.
Despite Testa’s desire to be recognised as a history painter, it was his drawings and engravings that made him famous.