Mattia Preti
(February 24, 1613 - January 3, 1699) |
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Historic Narratives, Secular Subject, Allegory Art Work
| Name: |
Mattia Preti |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Taverna, Catanzaro |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
February 24, 1613 |
| Death: |
January 3, 1699 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Historic Narratives, Secular Subject, Allegory |
| Medium: |
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| Method: |
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| Style: |
Baroque |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| Particularly important for developments in Naples, Mattia Preti was, in fact, active in many other centers including Rome, Modena, Malta, and his own district of Taverna. Adapting Venetian, Roman, and Neapolitan traditions, Preti developed a thoroughly personal narrative style. His strong psychological insights produced memorable, characters whose deep introspection and emotional intensity place him among the first rank of the painters of his generation. Preti's early years are not well documented. De Dominici states that he left Taverna at age seventeen to establish himself in Rome. In 1630 the city could boast masterpieces by Caravaggio,* Gentileschi,* Manfredi,* Rubens,* the Carracci,* Lanfranco,* Guercino,* Reni,* and the young Pietro da Cortona, all of which Preti studied. Between 1630 and 1640 Preti also traveled to Bologna, Cento, Parma, Modena, and Venice, where he paid particular attention to pictures by Guercino, Correggio, and Veronese. By 1641-42 Preti was back in Rome and was made "Cavaliere d'Obbendienza" in the Order of Malta and occasionally traveled to Venice and Emilia. Preti's life continued to be itinerant: he was in Rome 1650-53 (where he joined the society of the Virtuosi of the Pantheon), Modena 1653- 56, Naples 1656-60, Rome 1660-61, and Malta, where he remained, becoming "Cavaliere di Grazia" in 1661. Two short trips, one to Naples in 1664 and one to Taverna in 1672, are all that interrupt this settled period in the late phase of Preti's life. Preti's early Roman development can be traced from his scenes of card players and musicians that were doubtless inspired by Manfredi, Valentin, and Tournier. Several mythologies reflect his response to the Venetian painters, while his fresco portraying the Charity of S. Carlo (S. Carlo ai Catinari) of 1642, reveals his responses to the paintings of Sacchi.* Preti's subsequent trips to Venice and Parma are reflected in his frescoes in the apse of S. Andrea della Valle, Rome (comm. 1650-51), portraying the life of St. Andrew. Competing with paintings by Lanfranco and Domenichino, Preti acquitted himself well, organizing large numbers of figures into a cohesive composition that effectively contrasts both large- and small-scale forms. Preti's predilection for creating a narrative focus, often placed at the center of the composition, signals his developing artistic maturity. From 1653 to 1656 Preti was active in Modena, painting frescoes for the dome and apse of S. Biagio. Frescoes painted for the reliquary chapel of the Duomo are now lost. His Modena frescoes reflect an intensive study of early Guercino, which contributed to the subtle shifts of light and shadow that mark Preti's mature style. When Preti arrived in Naples in 1656, most of the city's established painters had been carried off by the plague that had just ended. There he reached his maturity and became Naplcs's leading painter. Preti received innumerable commissions; the earliest, significantly enough, were frescoes over the city gates to commemorate the plague. Now destroyed, the modelli for them are preserved in the Capodimonte,and are regarded as masterpieces of the Neapolitan high baroque. Here Preti's increased sophistication at manipulating dark and light, alternating clearly lit passages with others obscured by a hazy penumbra or a deep shadow, is evident. Absorbing the realism of Ribera, Preti fused all his sources into a carefully calculated yet seemingly spontaneous whole. Of his surviving commissions in Naples, the frescoes portraying stories of the Life of Pietro Cetestino and Catherine of Alexandria (documented between 1657 and 1659), for the vault of the nave in S. Pietro a Maiella, are among his most important. Others include his Madonna of Constantinople (dated 1656, Naples, Sant'Agostino degli Scalzi) and the St. Sebastian (Naples, Museo Nazionali di Capodimonte), done for S. Maria dei Setti Dolori. Preti's Sebastian is a tour de force of figure painting, heroically conceived (as it fills the entire canvas) yet vulnerable and highly mystical. Rejected by the nuns of S. Sebastiano for whom it was originally painted, it was acquired for the church of S. Maria dei Setti Dolori. Among Preti's most compelling narratives from this period is his Feast of Herod (Ohio, Toledo Museum of Art), in which his study of Veronese is evident. A rich banquet scene, it nevertheless focuses on four protagonists, Salome, Herod, and the Baptist, with Herod's wife being the enigmatic presence at the center of the scene. The painting shares with Rembrandt* the introspective quality of a character meditating on the meaning and consequence of action. Between 1660 and 1661 Preti worked briefly in Valmontone before settling in Malta for the next forty years. His decorations for the Stanzia deH'Aria, Villa Pamphili, replacing those by Mola, are considered his finest frescoes. They constitute an important step in the development of baroque ceiling painting. In Malta Preti was virtually isolated artistically, though his pictures were sent to various parts of Italy. His most ambitious undertaking involved the cycles portraying stories from the Life of John the Baptist and The Illustrious Knights of Malta for the Cathedral of St. John in Valletta (1661-66). Preti remained prolific, though few works are precisely documented. One of the few easily dated examples is his S. Bernardo Preaching (dated 1674, Siena, S. Domenico). His style in these last years remained virtually unchanged, retaining a deep emotional presence in the best examples. |
Samples of Work
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