Carlo Maratta is the great genius of Italian painting, whose paintings skillfully combine the best features of classicism and baroque

Carlo Maratta (May 15, 1625 December 15, 1713) the famous Italian artist of the second half of the 17th early 18th centuries, a brilliant master of the religious and portrait genres. He is rightfully considered one of the greatest painters of his era in European visual arts. His paintings successfully combine the features of Baroque and Classicism, and the best masterpieces of the artist’s work adorn the halls of the most famous museums in Europe. The biography of the genius Italian is closely connected with Rome, where he lived most of his life.

Throughout his career, Carlo Maratta has paid great attention to training young artists. Dozens of assistants constantly worked in his vast workshop, many of whom later became famous painters, including:

• Paolo Albertoni;
• Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari;
• Godfrey Kneller
• Stefano Pozzi;
• Tommaso Redi.

Biography

Carlo Maratta was born on May 15, 1625 in the small town of Camerano in the province of Marche, located in central Italy. Shortly before the boy was born, his parents, along with many other refugees, moved to this region from Dalmatia (part of modern Croatia), which was captured by the Turks.

From early childhood, Carlo loved to draw and devoted all his free time to this occupation. Fortunately, his brilliant creativity was noticed in time by the local priest Corintio Benicampi, who helped the 11-year-old boy get a job as an apprentice in the studio of the famous artist Andrea Sacchi in Rome. Maratta’s training with an experienced mentor lasted 14 years, but even after the young artist began to work independently, he maintained warm friendly relations with him until the teacher’s death.

At the initial stage of his creative career, Carlo Marrata worked mainly in the field of monumental visual arts. Under the guidance of Sacca, he was mainly engaged in the creation of frescoes and painting of altars for Catholic churches. Nevertheless, the talented artist quickly gained fame in Rome and soon began to receive private orders for painting.

In 1655, Alexander VII of the Chigi family became pope of Rome, who was reasonably considered a great connoisseur of fine arts and a generous patron of the arts. For the next 22 years, the pontiff became the most influential patron of the master, providing him with the execution of the most responsible and highly paid orders. In addition, Alexander VII helped his protégé in 1664 to get the position of director of the National Academy of St. Luke, which significantly increased the authority and fame of Maratta.

In addition to the religious genre, the painter also made great strides in portraiture.

The heroes of his paintings were many famous residents of Italy and wealthy foreigners of that era, who paid huge sums of money for their work. The artist’s studio was constantly overcrowded with people, and many novice painters dreamed of getting to him to study.

The personal life of Carlo Maratta has not been well studied. It is known that he was married, but the marriage turned out to be childless. But in 1679, his mistress Francesca Gommi gave birth to a girl Faustina from the painter, whom he officially recognized as his daughter 20 years later. Then, immediately after the death of his first wife, Carlo married Francesca. The only daughter of the master later became a popular poet and artist, and in the last years of her father’s life she was constantly with him.

For most of the second half of the 17th century, Maratta was rightfully considered the best Roman artist. By the age of 40, he had become a very rich and respected master of painting, never lacking funds and generous customers. Only at the beginning of the new 18th century, 75-year-old Carlo finally got fed up with work and decided to leave the Italian capital for the small town of Genzano di Roma. He spent three years in a luxurious estate with his beloved daughter, mainly engaged in the restoration of paintings by ancient masters.

And yet, in 1703, the artist returned to Rome, where he lived until the end of his life. And on December 15, 1713, Carlo Maratta died quietly in the presence of his beloved Faustina at the age of 88. The body of the great master was buried in one of the many Roman churches, for which he once created several frescoes and paintings.

The most famous paintings by Carlo Maratta

The brilliant Italian painter has created hundreds of unique masterpieces over a long creative career. And yet, the most famous paintings by Carlo Maratta are:

• “Portrait of Andrea Sacchi” (1661) is a painting that Carlo finished after the death of his beloved teacher. It was thanks to this work that young Maratta acquired the fame of a skilled portrait painter, which he not only preserved until his death, but also managed to multiply it many times over.
• Portrait of Pope Clement IX “(1669) a painting made in the best traditions of the popular genre, in which the pontiff appears before the audience proudly sitting on a luxurious throne. The hero of the work, like his predecessor Alexander VII, was also the most powerful patron of the artist throughout the reign of the Holy See.
• The Church Fathers Discussing the Assumption of the Virgin (1686) is a religious masterpiece that has adorned the main altar of the Chibo chapel of the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome for over 300 years. In this picture, four famous theologians, over whom the image of the Holy Virgin Mary soars, are having a fascinating conversation with each other.
• The Sleeping Child Jesus and the Musician Angels (1697) is a work that adorns one of the halls of the world famous Louvre Museum in Paris today. This painting, created under the influence of the work of the masters of the Renaissance, is somewhat very similar to the best works of the great Raphael (Raffaello Santi).

Carlo Maratta is one of the greatest Italian painters of the 17th century. He achieved wide recognition early and lived most of his life in prosperity and fame. But despite this, for many decades the painter worked conscientiously and left to posterity a huge creative legacy.