Mattia Preti

Paintings

Diogenes with His Lantern In Search of an Honest Man

Boethius and Philosophy

Diogenes and Plato

Clorinda rescues Olindo and Sophronia

The Marriage at Cana

The Adoration of the Shepherds

Belisarius Receiving Alms

A Cavarly Skirmish

Saint John the Baptist Preaching

Archimedes

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas

Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

David Playing the Harp Before Saul

Jael and Sisara

Pilate Washing His Hands

Saint Andrew

Erminia Princess of Antioch

Feast of Herod

The Crucifixion of St Andrew

Hellenica World, Paintings, Drawings

The Adoration of the Shepherds

Hellenica World, Paintings, Drawings

Clorinda rescues Olindo and Sophronia

Hellenica World, Paintings, Drawings

Design for the Plague Fresco

Hellenica World, Paintings, Drawings

Saint Veronica with the Veil

Malta

The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine

Malta

The Conversion of St Paul on the Way to Damascus

Flying Angel

Kneeling Woman

A flying Putto seen from behind

Angels Carrying the Holy Cross and Shroud

Diogenes and Plato

Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was sometimes called Il Cavalier Calabrese (the Knight of Calabria). His early apprenticeship is said to have been with the "Caravaggist" Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, which may account for his lifelong interest in the style of Caravaggio. Probably before 1630, Preti joined his brother Gregorio (also a painter), in Rome, where he became familiar with the techniques of Caravaggio and his school as well as with the work of Guercino, Rubens, Reni, Giovanni Lanfranco.

In Rome, he painted fresco cycles in Sant'Andrea della Valle and San Carlo ai Catinari. Between 1644 and 1646, he may have spent time in Venice,[1] but remained based in Rome until 1653, returning later in 1660-61. He painted frescoes for the church of San Biago at Modena (app. 1651–2) and participated in the fresco decoration of the Palazzo Pamphilj in Valmontone (documented 1660-61), where he worked along with Pier Francesco Mola, Gaspar Dughet, Francesco Cozza, Giovanni Battista Tassi (il Cortonese), and Guglielmo Cortese.

The Wedding at Cana, National Gallery, London

During most of 1653-1660, he worked in Naples, where he was influenced by another major painter of his era, Luca Giordano. One of Preti's masterpieces were a series of large frescoes, ex-votos of the plague (which were painted on seven city gates but have since been lost to the ravages of time), depicting the Virgin or saints delivering people from the plague. Two sketches are in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples.[2] The bozzetto of the Virgin with the baby Jesus looming over the dying and their burial parties envisions a Last Judgement presided over by a woman.[3] Preti also won a commission to supervise the construction, carving, and gilding for the nave and transept of San Pietro a Maiella.

Having been made a Knight of Grace in the Order of St John, he visited the order’s headquarters in Malta in 1659 and spent most of the remainder of his life there. Preti transformed the interior of St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, with a huge series of paintings on the life and martyrdom of St. John the Baptist (1661–1666). In Malta one also can find many paintings of Preti in private collections and in parish churches. His increased reputation led to an expanded circle of patrons, and he received commissions from all over Europe.

Preti was fortunate to enjoy a long career and have a considerable artistic output. His paintings, representative of the exuberant late Baroque style, are held by many great museums, including important collections in Naples, Valletta, and in his hometown of Taverna.

References

Wittkower, 360
James Clifton, "Mattia Preti's Frescoes for the City Gates of Naples," Art Bulletin (1994), 479-501

Clifton, 480. Preti's salary for the work was 1500 ducats.