Giuseppe Isola was an Italian painter of the 19th century. At a young age already, he exhibited his paintings and caricatures in his father's furniture workshop. He was then sponsored by a noble neighbour who enabled him to study at the art academy in Genoa. From the mid-1830s, Isola painted several history paintings, which were seen as a political provocation by the Piedmontese, who occupied Genoa at the time. Isola was arrested and interrogated in Turin, but was soon released. In 1841, he was appointed honorary history painter by Carlo Alberto of Savoy. In the 1840s, Isola travelled to Tuscany, Lombardy and Rome for study purposes. Isola became the favourite painter of the Genoese upper class after his return, especially because of his skills as a portraitist. He also painted numerous churches and palazzi in Genoa with allegorical, mythological and religious frescoes. Giuseppe Isola's style was a romantic historicism influenced by the Old Masters, especially Dominichino.