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Why did Genoa become Anthony van Dyck’s main base in Italy?
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Anthony van Dyck
Self-Portrait, oil on canvas by Anthony Van Dyck, c. 1620–21; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. 119.7 × 87.9 cm.
Genoa became Anthony van Dyck’s main base in Italy primarily because he was immediately patronized by the same group of aristocratic families who had supported his mentor, Peter Paul Rubens, 14 years earlier.1
Upon arriving in Genoa in 1621, van Dyck found a ready-made network of wealthy patrons who facilitated his work. While he used the city as his headquarters, he traveled extensively throughout Italy to study the works of great masters, particularly those of the Venetian school, which significantly influenced his own development in color and expressive refinement.1