Cerquozzi was a leading member of the Bamboccianti, a group of mainly foreign artists active in Rome who worked in the manner of Pieter van Laer, called il Bamboccio, producing small genre and low-life subject pictures related to contemporary Italian street-life. Cerquozzi’s most accomplished works blend the naturalism of the bamboccianti with narrative and anecdotal elements. In addition to his genre subjects, and sometimes in combination with them, Cerquozzi produced high quality and similarly naturalistic still life compositions. a pivotal personality in the development of Roman still life painting.
