"The father of Bohemian Baroque painting," Karel Skréta was a royal clerk's son; his first mentors were probably artists at Rudolf II's court. His Protestant family was expelled from Prague around 1627, and he visited Venice, Florence, and Bologna about three years later. Arriving in Rome around 1634, Skréta joined the northern European artists called the *Schildersbent,* or "Birds of a Feather,"
