MARATTI, CARLO (1625-1713)

"Faustina Maratti" (c.1800)
after Carlo Maratti (1698)
miniature painting
14 x 10cm
unsigned
*private collection, Sydney
.
This stunning miniature is a late 18th century, detailed, (& superior in many ways) Grand Tour copy of Maretti's 1698 portrait of his daughter, Faustina, which currently hangs in the Palazzo Corsini in Rome.

Maratti was a noted late Baroque Classical painter, inspired by the High Renaissance artists such as Raphael & Sebastiano del Piombo, but also by the painters of Parma & Bologna, such as Guido Reni & Guercino. Pope Alexander VII commissioned many paintings from him including The Visitation (1656) for Santa Maria della Pace and the Nativity in the gallery of the Quirinal Palace where he worked under the direction of Cortona who selected him for this task. From 1660, he built up a private client base amongst wealthy patrons of Europe, establishing the most prominent art studio in Rome of his time and, after the death of Bernini in 1680, he became the leading artist in Rome, with portrait commissions from several famous artists, Cardinals & Pope's. His daughter, Faustina (1679-1745), born to Carlo's mistress, was only acknowledged as his daughter around the time the original portrait was painted, and she became a well known Baroque painter & poet in her own right.