Guglielmo Caccia

Born on May 9, 1568, in Montabone near Acqui, Guglielmo Caccia received his training as a pupil of Giovanni Francesco Biancaro. Some sources suggest he may also have studied under Lorenzo Sabbatini, though this remains debated among art historians.

In 1589, at age twenty-one, he married Laura Oliva, daughter of the painter Ambrogio Oliva, in Casale. This marriage connected him to an established artistic family and likely provided professional networks crucial to his developing career.

During this first Piedmont period, Caccia established himself throughout the region, creating sacred works for churches in Moncalvo, Chieri, Turin, Novara, and other Piedmontese cities. His daughter Theodora Caccia was born in 1596 and would later become the painter Orsola Maddalena Caccia.

He began painting in Milan and also worked in Pavia, where he was made a citizen, indicating his growing reputation beyond his native Piedmont.

From 1617 to 1619, Caccia undertook a brief but formative stay in Milan and the surrounding area. Though only two years, this period proved crucial to his artistic development, exposing him to the more cosmopolitan artistic currents of Milan.

This Milanese interlude allowed Caccia to study contemporary developments in Counter-Reformation art and refine his already accomplished technique.

Returning to Piedmont in 1619, Caccia entered his final and most mature period. His style had been enriched by his Milanese experience, and his reputation as Piedmont's leading religious painter was firmly established.

During these final years, he continued producing altarpieces and devotional works for churches throughout the region, consolidating his position as 'the Raphael of Monferrato.'

Guglielmo Caccia died in 1625 in Moncalvo, leaving behind an extensive body of work that dominated Piedmontese sacred art for decades and established a workshop tradition continued by his daughter Orsola Maddalena.