Francesco Maffei
(1600 - 1660) |
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Landscapes, Secular Narratives, Historic Narratives, Mythological Narratives Art Work
| Name: |
Francesco Maffei |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Vicenza |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
1600 |
| Death: |
1660 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Landscapes, Secular Narratives, Historic Narratives, Mythological Narratives |
| Medium: |
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| Method: |
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| Style: |
Baroque |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| One of the more talented painters of the Venetian school during a period when developments in Bologna, Rome, Naples, and even Florence overshadowed Venice, Francesco Maffei followed in the traditions of Veronese, Titian, and Tintoretto. He chose to ignore both Caravaggism and other baroque developments, charting a direction not unlike that of Fetti, Liss, and Strozzi. A fluid and vigorous painter, Maffei deserves to be better appreciated. His exact birthdate is unknown but is generally accepted to be around 1600. He was a pupil of the noted mannerist painter Alessandro Maganza. Maffei's mature style is based on his study of Veronese and the late works of Tintoretto. His earliest signed work is St. Nicholas and the Angel (dated 1626, Vincenza, Oratory of St. Nicholas). Besides working in Vicenza, Maffei was active in Brescia and Rovigo. Betweeen 1638 and 1640 he was in Venice, where the paintings of Fetti, Liss, and Strozzi inspired him. His last commissions took him to Padua in 1657, where he died three years later. His Venetian stay had a considerable impact on his style, adding movement and more verve to his imagery. His five important Allegories, painted to honor dignitaries of Vicenza, and his Glorification of the Inquisitor Atvise Foscarini (dated 1652, painted in Vicenza between 1644 and 1656), show his response to his Venetian contemporaries. The Glorification includes a figure taken directly from Liss's Vision of St. Gerome (but reversed). Using a fluid brush and dissonant and eccentric diaphanous colors, Maffei injected a sense of the bizarre and hallucinogenic into his works. The attitudes and gestures of many of his smaller figures owe a clear debt to Domenico Beccafumi. Between 1655 and 1657 Maffei produced more decorations for the Oratory of St. Nicolas, where he provided additional scenes for the St. Nicolas legend including Miracles of Perugia and Foligno; SL Nicholas and the Souls in Purgatory; and The Trinity. In 1657 he also produced some ceiling decorations for the Ca' Rezzonico in Venice, portraying Zephyr, Minerva, Perseus in ceiling tondos. One of his finest achievments was begun the following year in Padua: the portrayal of The Israelites Gathering Manna, painted between ca. 1658 and 1660 for the church of S. Giustina in Padua. In an epic scene Maffei sets scores of figures into action, letting them trail into the fictive distance like transparent apparitions (a device he clearly learned from Tintoretto, but made his own). Having moved in a highly personal direction that defies easy classification, Maffei sustained the independence of the Venetian tradition. He and his school remain unjustly overlooked. |
Samples of Work
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