Catalogue of the exhibition organized in Genoa, at the Palazzo Ducale in 1997. The young and already established Flemish painter Anthony Van Dyck arrived in Italy in 1621. The reason for his trip was to study the great Italian masters in order to perfect and enrich his artistic production, but also to receive new and rewarding commissions. Introduced to the Genovese environment by the community of Flemish artists who had achieved success in the city and by his master Pieter Paul Rubens, he came to be the right artist at the right time.