Giovan Pietro Bellori (about 1616–1696) was an Italian art theorist and biographer. He lived in Rome and worked as the curator of Pope Clement X’s (1590-1676) classical art collection as well as the librarian to the exiled Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689). In Rome he became involved with the ‘Accademia di San Luca’ and met many 17th-century artists there.
His book 'Le vite de' pittori, scultori et architetti moderni' ('The Lives of the Modern Painters, Sculptors and Architects'), published in 1672, includes 12 biographies of major Baroque painters. He encouraged naturalism and believed that the basic value of painting or sculpture is derived from drawing.