(Camerano 1625–1713 Rome)
Venus and Cupid, oil on canvas, 53 x 67.5 cm, framed

Dr. Stella Rudolph will included the present painting in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné, which will be published shortly.

Stella Rudolph considers the composition to be a mature work by the artist dating from the period between 1685 and 1690. ‘In my opinion it is an autograph work, of exquisite quality, by Carlo Maratti; judging by the figural types, the handling of the broad, indented drapery folds and the clear, bright colour scheme, it can be dated to the 1680s when he was the leading painter of the Roman School and indeed the most celebrated one in Europe’.

There exist two further variants of the subject of Venus and Cupid by Maratti one in Schleissheim Castle near Munich and the other in a private collection. Maratti executed one of these paintings for Niccolò Maria Pallavicini, his most important patron in Rome. Dr. Rudolph thinks it is still unclear which of the three versions was intended for him (see S. Rudolph, Niccolò Maria Pallavicini. L’Acesa al Tempio della Vertù attraverso il Mecenatismo, Rome 1995, p. 61, fig. 37, and pp. 62/3, p. 10.)

Dr. Stella Rudolph will included the present painting in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné, which will be published shortly. Stella Rudolph considers the composition to be a mature work by the artist dating from the period between 1685 and 1690. ‘In m