Carlo MARATTA (Camerano 1625 - Rome 1713) - Lot 36

Carlo MARATTA (Camerano 1625 - Rome 1713) Galatea's Triumph with Polyphemus Canvas Height: 112.5 cm Width: 161 cm Old restorations, missing parts and accidents Provenance : Probably Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna collection (1637 - 1689), Rome. Bibliography: Francesco Petrucci, Carlo Maratti, Quaderni del Barocco, n°40, 2023, pp.12-16, reproduced p.13, figure 16 (consulted online at www.palazzochigiariccia.it/quaderni-del-barocco). Maratta painted several pictures on the theme of Galatea's triumph during his career. The most famous, now lost, was kept in the 18th century in the collection of the Duc d'Orléans at the Palais-Royal. It is known from engravings by Jean Audran (1763) and Philippe Trière (circa 1780). Another version is in the Hermitage Museum, possibly from Sir Horace Walpole's collection at Houghton Hall, and another was listed on the Roman art market in 1952 (Antonina auction house, see Photothèque Zeri, n 49932). In these works, the central group of three nymphs and the putto on its mount are identical to ours (however, the two dolphins pulling the chariot are side by side, not separated from each other as here). Similarly, the triton blowing into a conch shell is similar. These compositions are more and not set in a vast landscape. Polyphemus is a secondary figure in the background, seated on the rocks, whereas he is standing and the main protagonist in our painting. The painter keeps in mind Raphael's fresco at the Farnesina and Poussin's painting (Philadelphia, Museum of Art), as well as Annibal Carracci's decor for the Palazzo Farnese. Here, he creates a painting for a collector, for a gallery in a Roman palace, in "tela d'imperatore" format, blending a luminous, Mediterranean landscape with sensual nude bodies bathed in sunlight, placing highly advanced details such as the still life of scallops and coral on the floor. We would like to thank Alessandro Agresti for providing us with information on the provenance of our painting. Expert : Cabinet Turquin - Tel : 01 47 03 48 78