Andrea Sacchi "worked with an uneasy mind; knowing perfectly well the difference between the good and the better, he was never content," reported his biographer. Sacchi himself said that other famous artists "frighten me and make me lose heart."

Sacchi's painting style paralleled that of his friend, sculptor Alessandro Algardi. Like another friend, Nicolas Poussin, Sacchi increasingly refrained from sensory appeal. He repeatedly demonstrated his psychological penetration and concentration on essentials.

Andrea Sacchi was devoted to the Baroque Classicism style of his time and was unappreciative of the work of other Baroque artists such as Pietro da Cortona and Gianlorenzo Bernini. He believed that historical paintings should contain few figures in order to retain the simplicity of classic artwork. However, Cortona debated against him and this fact at the Academy of Saint Luke, thinking that paintings with more figures and complexity were superior. Sacchi’s work was in accordance with that of his friends, sculptor Alessandro Algardi and painter Nicolas Poussin. His classical style became dominant at the end of the 17th century, spread by Sacchi’s pupil Carlo Maratti.

Marcantonio Pasqualini Crowned by Apollo

This painting was created in 1641 when the artist was 42 years old. Marcantonio Pasqualini was one of the leading male sopranos of the time.