(b Rome, 18 Feb. 1602; d Rome, 6 Apr. 1660). Italian painter, known as ‘Michelangelo of the Battles’ because of his predilection for scenes of combat. He spent all his career in Rome, where he had considerable contact with northern painters; his friendship with the Dutchman Pieter van Laer led to his becoming the leading Italian exponent of bambocciate (small pictures of low-life and peasant scenes).