Mattia Preti, the very prolific baroque painter of the 17th century, is certainly very well-known in Malta where he spent the last 40 years of his life and where he produced hundreds of paintings, most of them masterpieces. But if one were to ask the man in the street what he knows about him, he would most probably come out with a list – probably correct – of works extant in the Maltese islands and, quite probably too, nothing about his life and works overseas.

So, it is here proposed to have a very short review of his life and works prior to his arrival in Malta.

Preti was born on February 24, 1613, in Taverna, a small town in the Sila Mountains, which nowadays forms part of the province of Catanzaro in Calabria (in the far south of Italy) to Cesare Preti and Innocenza née Schipani, who formed part of the local petty nobility.

A view of Taverna, in Calabria, the birth place of Mattia Preti in 1613.

Church of St Dominic, Taverna, Calabria, with a statue of Mattia Preti in the forefront.

Taverna was certainly far from the most up-to-date artistic centres, though the young Mattia could admire, in the town of his birth, interesting late mannerist works by Giovanni Bernardo Azzolino (c.1572-1645), who had been asked to produce paintings for a local church.

Self-portrait of Mattia Preti culled from the painting Predica di San Giovanni Battista (c. 1684), housed at the church of St Dominic at Taverna, Calabria.

Moreover, there is recorded that the town possessed mannerist works by the Florentine Giovanni Balducci (c.1650-1531). However, no major painter was actually active in Taverna, thus necessitating the need to move Mattia elsewhere to obtain the necessary artistic training coveted by the young Preti. Coming from the local petty nobility, the family could afford to finance his necessary study and travel.

At a young age, probably in 1630, he moved to Rome, where he joined his elder brother Gregorio (1603-72), 10 years his senior and also a painter who, though very competent, never reached the heights of his younger brother and was continually in his shadow. However, working together, the Preti brothers executed the Concerto con scena di buona ventura (1630-35), which is preserved in the Pinacoteca dell’Accademia Albertina of Turin.

It is said that Preti’s early apprenticeship at Rome was with Giovanni Battista Caracciolo (1578-1635), a “Caravaggist”, and this may account for Mattia’s lifelong interest in the style of Caravaggio (1571-1610).

Preti was fascinated by Caravaggesque painters, especially Bartolomeo Manfredi (1582-1622), who focused on scenes of humble daily life, a genre that would influence Preti in some of his works, and the Bolognese artists, who included Guido Reni (1575-1642) and Lionello Spada (1576-1622), among others.

The island is fortunate to possess so many of his masterpieces

His travels to northern Italy brought him in contact with the works of great painters such as Titian (died 1576), Paolo Veronese (1528-88) and Tintoretto (1518-94). In Emilia, he was in contact with Domenichino (1581-1641) and Guercino (1591-1666). Preti may also have visited France after 1640.

Around this time, Preti painted one of his earliest works, Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius Fleeing From Troy in c. 1635.

Mattia Preti: Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius fleeing from Troy, one of Preti’s earliest paintings (c.1635).

Yet, throughout this period of travelling, Preti remained based in Rome till 1653, only returning later in 1660-61, after which he moved to Malta.

Preti thus compiled a vast number of influences that ultimately influenced his art over time. He was to develop into one of the most important artists of the 17th century, certainly among the greatest hailing from the south. This was due to his originality, the quality of his works and the fact that he was very prolific.

Also, in his paintings, he knew how to combine different influences with great skill without being excessive. Therefore, his art was never constant over time, the result of his openness to different sources of inspiration. Other artists, such as Luca Giordano (1634-1705) and Francesco Solimena (1657-1747), were in turn inspired by Preti.

Mattia Preti: Clorinda frees Olindo and Sofronia from the Stake (c.1646), housed at the Musei di Strada Nuova, Palazzo Rosso, Genoa.

In 1642, mainly through papal intervention, Preti was received as a Knight of Obedience in the Order of St John. Later on, when he was domiciled in Malta, he was promoted to Knight of Grace. In c.1645, Preti was in Genoa where he produced works for some of the local noble families, including the masterpieces Clorinda libera Sofronia and The Raising of Lazarus, both preserved in Genoa.

Mattia Preti: The Raising of Lazarus (c.1650-59), housed at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini, Rome.

In 1650, Cardinal Francesco Peretti commissioned Preti to paint the frescoes for the church of Sant’Andrea della Valle in Rome; the venture was not a success, but he was more successful in another cycle of frescoes in the church of San Carlo ai Catinari.

Mattia Preti: detail from the frescoes in Sant’ Andrea della Valle, Rome (c. 1650).

In 1651-2, he was appointed to paint frescoes for the church of San Biagio in Modena and, later on, he participated in the fresco decoration of Palazzo Pamphilj in Valmontone, works documented in 1660-61, with Pier Francesco Mola il Ticinese (1612-66), Gaspard Dughet also known as Gaspard Poussin (1615-75), Francesco Cozza (1605-82), Giovanni Battista Tassi il Cortonese and Guglielmo Cortese (1628-79).

Mattia Preti: Dame’s Game (c.1630-40), housed at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK.

In 1653, Mattia moved to Naples where his first painting was a Saint Nicholas. Three years later, he produced The Return of the Prodigal Son, which is preserved in the National Museum of Capodimonte in Naples. His major works in Naples included a series of large fresco ex-votos depicting the Virgin and other saints delivering people from the plague. They were painted on seven gates of the city but are now lost, though two of the sketches – including a bozzetto of the Virgin and the baby Jesus looming over the dying and their burial parties – are preserved at the Capodimonte Museum in Naples.

When still in Naples, Preti was commissioned to supervise the construction, carving and gilding of the nave and transept of San Pietro a Maiella.

Mattia Preti: St George on Horseback (1658), housed at St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta.

Other notable paintings by Preti in Naples are Judith and Holofernes and Saint John the Baptist. In 1658, Mattia depicted an exquisite St George on Horseback, which probably won him his future commissions by the Order of St John in Malta.

This short exposition is enough to show that, when in 1659 Preti decided to spend the last 40 years of his life at Malta, he was already a very mature and experienced artist, and the island is fortunate to possess so many of his masterpieces.

He enjoyed a long and fruitful career and, as already stated, a very considerable artistic output in the exuberant late baroque style. Suffice it to state that his paintings are held by great museums, including important collections in Naples, Valletta, Palermo and, fittingly, in his hometown of Taverna, Calabria.

Some years ago, I also unexpectedly viewed his c.1678 rendition of The Adoration of the Shepherds at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, which indicates how far-flung his depictions are.