LThe Cremonese activity of Luigi Miradori, called the Genovesino (1610 ca.- 1656), started more or less in 1640.

Born in Genoa, he was trained in the Strozzi workshop where he found the inspiration for the bright colors used in his first artworks. Then, he improved his skills through the analysis of some prints and during a journey to Rome where he got in contact with the Nordic painters and with the tradition of the naturalistic painting in Caravaggesque style.

When he arrived in Cremona he found here a sluggish situation: this element fostered his fame in the local families interested in buying some artworks. His success was also enhanced by the unusual combination of a strong naturalistic style with the painter’s great painting skills, a peculiar painting practice which was developed exactly in his Cremonese stay.

In the room there are also two paintings by his scholar Bernardo Strozzi and some works by few artists from Lombardy (Cerano, Angelo Ferrario, Claudio Feria) who portrayed the trends of the same period in the regional context. There is also a beautiful painting by Andrea del Lione which introduces an international element in this panorama. The only artist who can compete with Genovesino is Pietro Martire Neri (1601-1661) who did not spend his entire life in Cremona and, in the half of the Century, decided to move to Rome.

Birth of the Virgin Mary