17th Century Oil on Canvas of The Holy Family in the manner of Carlo Maratta (1625-1713)

A 17th Century oil on canvas depicting “La Sainte Famille” with John the Baptist, in the manner of .Carlo Maratta (1625-1713).

It is very skilfully painted with a dark background but beautifully lit, which gives drama to the painting.

We have had it professionally cleaned and relined and it has sprung to life. The Italian frame is made from gilded and carved wood.

CARLO MERATTA was born on May 18th, 1625 in the town of Camerano on the west slope of Monte Conero, situated a few miles south of Ancona in the Marche region bordered by the Adriatic Sea. In fact, his elderly father had migrated as a boy with a group of Dalmatians to this area where he subsequently prospered as a landowner and married a young widow, Faustina Masini. Maratti was carefully educated but very early revealed a precocious artistic talent in experimenting with drawing and colors derived from plants. Some of the former caught the eye of Domenico Corraducci, a member of the most important local family who sent them to Maratti’s stepbrother Bernabeo Francioni, an aspiring painter resident in Rome, who in turn showed them to Andrea Camassei. This master was so impressed that he advised that the boy should be trained in Rome and, with the help of Corraducci, he arrived there at the age of 11. Bernabeo soon introduced him to Andrea Sacchi who, together with Pietro da Cortona, was one of the foremost painters during the papacy of Urban VIII Barberini (1623–1644).