
Detail of self-portrait (ca. 1640)
Palais Fesch, Ajaccio, Corsica
Pietro Berrettini, who is almost always named for his native city, trained in Florence but was based in Rome from ca. 1612. His first major commission came from the papal treasurer, Marcello Sacchetti, who commissioned him to lead a team of young artists in the decoration of Villa Sacchetti at Castel Fusano, near Ostia in 1626. This team included included Andrea Sacchi and Andrea Camassei. He trained a large number of other artists in his studio in Rome, including Salvi Castellucci, Pietro Montanini, Giacinta Gimignani, Francesco Allegrini, Antonio Gherardi and Giovanni Ventura Borghesi.
The project for Marcello Sacchetti led to the patronage of Pope Urban VIII and his Barberini relatives. He also enjoyed the patronage of the Grand Duke Ferdinando II in Florence in the decade from 1637.
Pietro da Cortona became the Director of the Accademia di San Luca in 1634. However, two years later, his exuberant style attracted the public criticism from other artists, led by his erstwhile follower, Andrea Camassei. He nevertheless remained one of the most important Baroque artists in Rome.
Otricoli
Frescoes (17th century)
The frescoes in the cupola of the Cappella della Santissimo Sacramento, Santa Maria Assunta, which depict an Allegory of Prayer, are from a cartoon by Pietro da Cortona.
Perugia
Birth of the Virgin (1643)

St Martina’s Vision of the Madonna and Child (ca. 1644)

St Martina’s Vision of the Madonna and Child (ca. 1647)

Immaculate Conception (1658-62)

The altarpiece has unusual iconography, in which God creates the Virgin using the gesture that Michelangelo used in his famous fresco (1509-12) of the creation of Adam in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Virgin stands on a cloud above a vanquished dragon that represents original sin. This altarpiece has been recently restored.