CARLO MARATTA (1625-1713), attribué

The Visitation of the Virgin Large oil on canvas Dimensions: 105 x 89 cm The Visitation of the Virgin is an episode from the Gospel according to Saint Luke in which the Virgin Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth who, despite her advanced age, was pregnant with John the Baptist, the last prophet. Mary, for her part, had just been visited by the Archangel Gabriel, who announced that she would give birth to Jesus. Carlo Maratta dealt with the theme of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary on several occasions. We will recall a painting kept in the church of Santa Maria della Pace in Rome, a beautiful composition in the Chigi Chapel in the Cathedral of Siena or a drawing kept in the Louvre. In the painting we are presenting to you, the Virgin Mary, with her hair falling to her left and dressed in a long blue toga, and her cousin Elizabeth occupy the centre of a perfectly balanced composition. On the right, we find at the top Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband, working in the house and St. Joseph below with his donkey. On the left, a maid carrying the linen talking to a woman holding her child. Two angels appear above, a dog below and a mountainous landscape in the background through architectural work. Provenance: Galerie Jürg Stuker, Bern Switzerland, November 1966 Since then, private collection Aarau Switzerland and Monte Carlo Biography: Italian painter and draughtsman born in Camerano, whose style is more restrained and composed than those of Cortona and Annibale Carracci, he is more connected to the traditions of Guido Reni and Andrea Sacchi in whose studio he trained and with whom he maintained a close relationship. Maratta's work was inspired by the great painters of Parma and Bologna and he was the true founder of the Roman Academy, which imposed a classicism on 17th century culture. Works in the Vatican Museum Rome, Hermitage St. Petersburg, Museum of History Vienna, The Uffizi, Palatine Gallery and Corsini Palace Florence, Duomo of Siena, The Prado Madrid, Palace of Versailles, The Louvre, etc.