Born in Brussels, the Flemish painter Michael Sweerts moved to Rome in 1646, remaining there until after 1652. Sweerts specialized in portraits and genre scenes, influenced by the tenebrism and naturalism of Caravaggio as well as by the Northern Bamboccianti also active in Rome in the period. Following a period in Brussels where he founded an academy of drawing and joined the painters’ guild, Sweerts joined a Catholic missionary group traveling to Asia. Dismissed from the order in 1662, he spent his final years in India.
