Benedetto Luti was an Italian painter who already an early age worked for Cosimo III de' Medici. He sent him to Rome in 1690 and provided him with accommodation, a studio and an exhibition room. In Rome, Luti studied the paintings of Raphael, Guido Reni, Correggio and Annibale Carracci, and their influence is quite evident in his work. In the course of his life, he opened his own school of drawing, was active as an art dealer and collector, and was able to win many patrons from the city nobility of Rome, in the Vatican, but also in northern Europe. Around 1703, he learned to paint in pastel. Luti was one of the first painters to work in pastels not only for preliminary studies, but also to produce pastel portraiture. However, he also painted in oil and produced numerous frescoes. Among his most important commissions was the fresco of the Prophet Isaiah in the basilica San Giovannni in Laterano in 1718. Luti was one of the most important protagonists of the Roman art scene in the first quarter of the 18th century. He had a great influence on his numerous students, but also on collectors and patrons for whom he worked as an art agent and painter. In addition to an extensive library, Luti owned a large art collection with paintings, sculptures and drawings from various centuries.