Carlo Maratta

Background

Carlo Maratta was born in Camerino, Italy in the Marches on May 13, 1625.

Career

A follower of Andrea Sacchi, Maratti was heir to the classical tradition within the Late Baroque. He favored design, contour, and clear sculptural definition of figures, as against the "painterly" emphasis on form-creating color of Baroque decorators. He also rejected their realism and drama.

In 17th-century Rome, however, Maratti could not remain completely untouched by Baroque practices. His early (about 1655) St. Augustine and the Child (Santa Maria dei Sette Dolori), a dark, gigantic form silhouetted against a seashore and low horizon, already owed something to the Baroque in its wavy contours, dramatic pathos, and chiaroscuro. His Virgin Appearing to St. Filippo Neri (Florence, Pitti; 1675) is a work of classical dignity, equally distinguished by the beauty of the human form, controlled emotion, and intensive color.

When he painted the Madonna Enthroned with St. Ignatius and St. Carlo Borromeo (Rome, Santa Maria in Vallicella), he made greater concessions to prevailing Baroque demands by the religious emphasis on his saints, their demonstrative gesture, the sumptuous color of robes, and the scheme of intersecting diagonals, leading inward to the throne of the Madonna. Her impassive face, marblelike and remote, is in contrast to the devotional ardor of the two saints. Though the undulating contours and the vivacious brush strokes are Baroque, the sculptural definition and balanced design on the whole are Raphaelesque. For Santa Maria degli Angeli, Maratti painted the Baptism of Christ; here the classical symmetry and Baroque movement of figures and draperies are accompanied by a clear division of light and shade.

Maratti has been called the fourth leader of the Roman school, after Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, and Pietro da Cortona. His learning, his emphasis on studied design and elaborate composition, the size and nobility of his forms, and his rarefied color are comparable to those of Reni, that other classicist master in the midst of the Baroque.

Achievements

• Maratti was one of the leading painters of the Roman school in the later 17th century and one of the last great masters of Baroque classicism.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Faith and Justice Enthroned by Carlo Maratta Framed Art Print Wall Picture, Flat Silver Frame, 25 x 36 inches

    (Faith and Justice Enthroned by Carlo Maratta Framed Art W...)

  • Madonna - The Holy Night - Carlo Maratta Mini Poster - 40x40cm

    (This matted print is an original piece of commercially pr...)

Connections

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.

Daughter:

Faustina Maratta