Born in Lucques in 1611, Pietro Testa studied painting probably with Pietro Paolini and then became the pupil of Dominican in Rome before 1630.
Testa also worked with Pietro da Cortone but both came finally at odds.
Rejecting classical painting, influenced by Caravaggio, Poussin and Venetian artists, he somewhat instilled some strangeness in his works.
Testa was reportedly murdered and his body thrown into the Tibre River in 1650 but he most likely committed suicide.