Manner/Attributable to MATIA PRETI or Matías Pretti (Taverna, 1613 - Malta, Valletta, 1699) - IMPORTANT SAINT ...

Manner/Attributable to MATIA PRETI or Matías Pretti (Taverna, 1613 - Malta, Valletta, 1699) - IMPORTANT SAINT FRANCIS IN PRAYER
Neapolitan Baroque School of the 17th century, Italy, measurements of the canvas only: 90 x 60 cm, measurements with frame: 112 x 85 cm. Probably before 1630, Preti joined his brother Gregorio Preti (also a painter) in Rome, where he became familiar with the techniques of Caravaggio and his school, as well as the work of Guercino, Rubens, Reni, Giovanni Lanfranco and Veronese. . In Rome he painted fresco cycles for the churches of San Andrés della Valle and San Carlo ai Catinari. It is probable that between 1644 and 1646 he resided in Venice, but his center of work remained Rome until 1653, when he left for Naples, although he would return to Rome in 1660-61. He painted frescoes for the church of San Biago (St Blaise) in Modena (c. 1651-2). Together with the painters Mola, Dughet, Francesco Cozza, Tassi (il Cortonese), and Courtois (Guglielmo Cortese) he worked on the fresco paintings of the Pamphili Palace, in Valmontone (documented 1660-61), bibliography: Spike, J., Mattia Preti and Gregorio Preti at Taverna. Complete catalog of operations, Centro Di, 1997. Provenance: important Andalusian private collection (lots 148 to 175).