About the Artist

Carlo Maratta (1625 Camerano-1713 Rome) arrived in Rome at the age of 11 and lived there for the rest of his life. In 1637 he was apprenticed to Andrea Sacchi and worked with him, according to Maratta's friend, the art theoretician Giovanni Pietro Bellori (1613-1696), for the next 19 years. Maratta worked in the tradition of the Carracci, and is and important exponent of the neoclassical tendency within the Roman painting tradition. A highly respectd painter, Maratta completed not only portraits and panel paintings with religious and mythological subject matter, but also numerous large altarpieces for Roman churches. His productive workshop provided traning for many younger artists, as well. Secular painting in Rome in the first half of the 18th century was decisively stimulated by Maratta's own works and those of his school. Works by the artist include The Death of St. Francis Xavier, c. 1676, II Gesu, Rome, Apollo and Daphne, 1681, Musees Royauxdes Beaux-Arts, Brussels; The Vision of St. Charles, 1690, an Carlo al Corso, Rome.