Pietro della Vechia

Pietro della Vecchia had a habit of slipping jokes into sacred scenes—his angels sometimes look like mischievous Venetian street kids, and saints wear the faces of his neighbors. He once painted himself as a beggar in the corner of a biblical story, just to see who’d notice. Start with his *Apostolul Petru* (Peter the Apostle), a rough-edged oil that treats a saint like a tired old sailor; tap it and you’ll spot the chipped paint on the frame—he signed it right through the grime.