GIUSTINIANI, MÁRCHESE VINCENZO

(1564-1637)

Italian art collector and connoisseur, best known as the patron ofCaravaggio, a number of whose works he owned. Among these was the rejected version of Caravaggio'sSt.Matthewand the Angel(1602; destroyed in 1945) painted for theContarelli Chapel, Rome, and theAmor Vincit Omnia(1601-1602; Berlin, Gemäldegalerie). Of Genoese descent, Giustiniani's family were the sovereigns of Chios, a station they lost in 1566 when the island was overtaken by the Turks. In that year, the young Giustiniani and his family moved to Rome where he eventually took upbankingand became treasurer to the papacy. By the early decades of the 17th century, he and his brother, Cardinal Benedetto, had amassed a vast art collection that included approximately 600 paintings and 1,200 ancient sculptures. Giustiniani was also a writer whose essays on painting, sculpture, architecture, music, travel, and other topics were quite influential. In his expositions on painting, he was more democratic thanGiovan Pietro Belloriwhen it came to assessing the merits of contemporary masters. While Bellori adulated theclassicismofAnnibale Carracciand balked at Caravaggio's naturalism and theMannerists'distortions and ambiguities, Giustiniani felt that they all had something important to contribute to the art world.