Carlo Maratta

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Carlo Maratta
Self-portrait
Born(1625-05-13)13 May 1625
Camerano, Papal States
Died15 December 1713(1713-12-15) (aged 88)
Rome, Papal States
NationalityItalian
Known forPainting
MovementLate Baroque

Carlo Maratta or Maratti (15 May 1625 – 15 December 1713) was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition stemming from

Giovanni Bellori, wrote an early biography on Maratta.[1]

Biography

Born in Camerano (Marche), then part of the Papal States, Maratta went to Rome in 1636, accompanied by, Don Corintio Benicampi, secretary to Taddeo Barberini.[2] He became an apprentice in the studio of Andrea Sacchi. It was at this time that the debate between Sacchi and Pietro da Cortona took place at the Accademia di San Luca, the artists academy in Rome. Sacchi argued that paintings should only have a few figures which should express the narrative whereas Cortona countered that a greater number of figures allowed for the development of sub themes.[3] Maratta's painting at this time was closely allied with the classicism of Sacchi and was far more restrained and composed than the Baroque exuberance of Pietro da Cortona’s paintings. Like Sacchi, his paintings were inspired by the works of the great painters from Parma and Bologna: Annibale Carracci, Guercino, Guido Reni, Francesco Albani, and Giovanni Lanfranco.

He developed a close relationship with Sacchi till the death of his master in 1661. His fresco of '

Constantine ordering the Destruction of Pagan Idols' (1648) for the Baptistery of the Lateran, based on designs by Sacchi, gained him attention as an artist but his first prominent independent work was the 'Adoration of the Shepherds' (1650) for San Giuseppe di Falegnami. Another major work from this period was 'The Mystery of the Trinity Revealed to St. Augustine' (c. 1655) painted for the church of Santa Maria dei Sette Dolori
.

Pope

Alexander VII (reigned 1655–1667) commissioned many paintings from him including The Visitation (1656) for Santa Maria della Pace and the Nativity in the gallery of the Quirinal Palace where he worked under the direction of Cortona who selected him for this task. His pictures of the late 1650s exhibit light and movement derived from Roman Baroque painting, combined with classical idealism.[4]

Pope Clement IX
Church Fathers discuss the Assumption of the Virgin (1686)

From 1660, he built up a private client base amongst wealthy patrons of Europe, establishing the most prominent art studio in Rome of his time and, after the death of

Gesu which was being painted at the same time, Maratta did not employ illusionism; his scene remained within its frame and used few figures.[5]

His major works of this period included: The Appearance of the Virgin to St. Philip Neri (c. 1675) now in the

Church of the Gesu
.

Maratta was a well-known portrait painter.[6] He painted Sacchi (c. 1655, Prado), Cardinal Antonio Barberini (c. 1660 Palazzo Barberini), Pope Clement IX (1669, Vatican Pinacoteca) and a self-portrait (c. 1695, Brussels). He also painted numerous English sitters during their visits to Rome on the Grand Tour, having sketched antiquities for John Evelyn as early as 1645.[7]

Francesca Gommi Maratta (c. 1690)

In 1679 or 1680, a daughter,

Faustina, was born to Maratta by his mistress, Francesca Gommi (or Gomma). He legally recognized her as his daughter in 1698 and upon becoming a widower in 1700, Maratta married the girl's mother. His daughter's features were incorporated into a number of Maratta's late paintings.[4][8]

In 1704, Maratta was knighted by Pope

Clement XI
.

With a general decline in patronage around the beginning of the eighteenth century and largely due to the economic downturn, Maratta turned his hand to painting restoration, including works by Raphael and Carracci. His sculptural designs included figures of the Apostles for

San Giovanni in Laterano. He continued to run his studio into old age even when he could no longer paint.[4] Maratta died in 1713 in Rome, and was buried there in Santa Maria degli Angeli
.

See also

Partial anthology of works

Alpheus and Arethusa

Notes

  1. ^ Bellori, Giovanni Pietro. Vita di Carlo Maratta pittore, Rome, 1732
  2. ^ G.P. Bellori, The Lives of the Modern Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, Cambridge (U.K.) 2005.
  3. ^ See the article on Andrea Sacchi for further discussion of the debate.
  4. ^ a b c d e ‘Carlo Maratti’, Marquez, Manuela B. Mena. Oxford Art Online
  5. ^ Maratti intended further decorations to this room which were not executed due to the death of the pope.
  6. ^ "Portrait of Pope Clement IX by MARATTI, Carlo".
  7. ^ Edward Chaney, The Evolution of English Collecting (New Haven and London, 2003), passim.
  8. Academy of Arcadia
    .

References

External links

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