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.
Born in Rome, Cerquozzi's early training was under the history painter Giuseppe Cesari, and he became acquainted with the circles of Dutch and Flemish painters working in Rome at the time. Cerquozzi began to achieve success as a painter around 1630, as his small genre and battle scenes became popular across Roman society, including with merchants and lawyers alongside eminent nobles such as the Barberini and Colonna families. He continued to work prolifically throughout his life, and died in 1660 with considerable wealth and property.
Cerquozzi’s most accomplished works blend the naturalism of the Bamboccianti with narrative and anecdotal elements. In addition to his genre and battle subjects, and sometimes in combination with them, Cerquozzi produced high quality and similarly naturalistic still life compositions. The artist was a pivotal personality in the development of Roman still life painting.
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