Carlo Maratta
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Carlo Maratta or Maratti (May 13, 1625 - December 15, 1713) was an Italian painter of High Baroque, active mostly in Rome.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Camerano (Marche), then part of the Papal States. He came as a boy of 12 to apprentice in the studio of Andrea Sacchi. Like Sacchi, his paintings have a classicizing tone, inspired by the works of the great painters from Parma and Bologna: Carracci, Guercino, and Lanfranco. He developed a close relationship with Sacchi till the death of his master in 1661. He worked alongside Francesco Cozza, and Domenico Maria Canuti in the decoration of the Palazzo Altieri.
His first prominent work is an Adoration of the Shepherds for San Giuseppe die Falegnami in 1650. He came to establish one of the most prominent art studios in Rome of his time. Other major works are the The Mystery of the Trinity Revealed to St. Augustine (c. 1655) painted for the church of Santa Maria dei Sette Dolori, The Appearance of the Virgin to St. Philip Neri (c. 1675) now in the Pitti Palace of Florence, The Virgin with Saints Carlo Borromeo and Ignatius of Loyola and Angels (c. 1685) for the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, and The Assumption of the Virgin with Doctors of the Church (1689) for Santa Maria del Popolo, . His numerous depictions of the Virgin earned him the nickname Carluccio delle Madonne (“Little Carlo of the Madonnas”).
The style of Maratta is a classicized Baroque, more restrained and composed than the styles of Cortona and Carracci, thus more allied to the traditions of Sacchi, Albani, and Reni. He was one of the artists favored by Giovanni Bellori. Maratta was known for his insightful portraiture[1].
In 1650, Maratta was introduced to pope Alexander VII, who commissioned many paintings including one of his greatest works, a painting of Constantine destroying the idols for the Baptistry of the Lateran. This work brought Maratta increased fame in the Vatican, and in 1704 Maratta was knighted by pope Clement XI. Other works include an altarpiece in the San Francesco Saverio Chapel of the Church of the Gesu, in the right transept.
He died at Rome.
[edit] See also
[edit] Partial anthology of works
- Birth of the Virgin, 1643-45, Church of Saint Clare, Nocera Umbra.
[edit] References
- Hobbes, James R. (1849). Picture collector's manual; Dictionary of Painters. T. & W. Boone, 29 Bond Street, London; Digitized by Googlebooks (2006) from Oxford library, pages 148-151.
- Wittkower, Rudolf (1993). "Art and Architecture Italy, 1600-1750", Pelican History of Art, 1980, Penguin Books, pp. 337-339.
[edit] External links
- National gallery (UK) web site entry for Carlo Maratta (accessed Jan. 2006)
- WGA site and gallery
"Carlo Maratta". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.
