The Italian painter Alessandro Magnasco (1667-1749) is best known for his scenes of disembodied, flamelike figures in stormy landscapes or cavernous interiors and for the vitality of his nervous, open brushwork.

Alessandro Magnasco, called Lisandrino, was born in Genoa. His father, Stefano, also a painter, died when Alessandro was young, leaving his family in poverty. His mother remarried, and Alessandro's position in the new family seems to have been precarious. When he was about 10 years old, he was sent off to Milan in the care of a merchant of that city. His new guardian arranged for him to be trained as a painter in the workship of Filippo Abbiati.

Magnasco learned rapidly. His first independent work was in portraiture, but he made his reputation with the landscape and genre paintings for which he is famous today. He painted them for private patrons. A marked increase in the size...