Thursday, January 29, 2015

After Raphael

from The Judgment of Solomon

Carlo Maratta (1625-1713) became the most prominent artist of the Roman baroque, following the death of Bernini in 1680. To modern eyes Maratta's painting-style can seem predictable and mechanical, but the quality of his drawings is astonishing. All examples here are from an album in the Royal Collection, acquired in Italy for George III. In this series of drawings, Maratta isolates figures and costume-details from the frescoes and paintings created in Rome by Raphael at the beginning of the 16th century. The originals were already about 150 years old at the time when Carlo Maratta sat down to copy them.  

Justice (with ostrich)

from The Mass at Bolsena

Prudence

Reclining nude

from The School of Athens

from The Crossing of the Red Sea

from The Disputa

from The Disputa

from The School of Athens

Sacrifice of Abraham

from The School of Athens

Temperance (with bridle)

from The Transfiguration