of della Vecchia appears date back to the period from December 1626 to January 1628. The documents deal with the payment for a banner the artist had made for the Confraternity of the Carmelites in the church of S. Marco in Pordenone. From 1629 to 1640 he was a member of the guild of painters in Venice. In 1626 he married Clorinda Régnier (or Clorinda Renieri), a daughter of the Flemish painter Nicolas Régnier (or Renieri). Clorinda Régnier was a painter in her own right and has been described as "a woman of great spirit, of great stature and of great adherence" (Tommaso Temanza, 1738). Lucrezia Régnier, the elder sister of della Vecchia's wife was married to Daniel van den Dyck, a Flemish painter active in Northern Italy. Della Vecchia, together with his brother-in-law Daniel van den Dyck and their respective spouses, painted wall decorations in the Palazzo Pesaro in Preganziol. Towards the end of the 1630s della Vecchia had established his name as one of the leading painters of Venice, especially of religious works. In January 1640 the procurators of S. Marco de Supra, responsible for the decoration of St Mark's Basilica, commissioned from him two cartoons for mosaics. These appear to have been well received as della Vecchia was subsequently appointed Venice's "pitor ducal" (painter to the duke), a position he held until 1674, that is, until four years before his death. In this capacity he was responsible for the design of the new mosaics and the restoration of the old ones in the Basilica. Della Vecchia also received a commission to restore Giorgione's Castelfranco Madonna altarpiece in 1643-1644. At the height of his career, della Vecchia was a very sought-after teacher with a large workshop employing many assistants. Della Vecchia also opened an academy in his house where live drawing classes were organised. Gregorio Lazzarini was one of his pupils probably shortly after 1667. Gregorio Lazzarini was later the teacher of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Della Vecchia also taught classes on the theory of art. Della Vecchia enjoyed fame as a connoisseur of ancient drawings and paintings. Especially during the latter part of his life he was repeatedly consulted by collectors and merchants, often together with his father-in-law Nicolas Régnier. Both he and his father-in-law had business relations with Paolo del Sera, who was the art agent in Venice of Leopoldo de' Medici, an Italian cardinal, scholar, patron