Francesco Maffei (1605 – 2 July 1660) was an Italian painter, active in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style.

Biography

He probably trained in his birthplace of

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

with his father, and painted mostly in the towns of the

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

(Venetian mainland). He died in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

. He is noted for his somewhat provincial stylistic quirks, combining the decorative manner of baroque with visual distortions and nervous brush strokes. His figures often glimmer with imprecise borders; a style which would characterize also the ''pittura de tocco e di macchia'' (painting of touch and dots) of the following decades and century. Representatives of this manner came from diverse regions of Europe, and worked in diverse styles, including

Ricci Ricci () is an Italian surname, derived from the adjective "riccio", meaning curly. Notable Riccis Arts and entertainment * Antonio Ricci (painter) (c.1565–c.1635), Spanish Baroque painter of Italian origin * Christina Ricci (born 1980), Americ ...

, Carpioni, Magnasco, and later

Francesco Guardi Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (; 5 October 1712 – 1 January 1793) was an Italian painter, nobleman, and a member of the Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the classic Venetian school of ...

. The canvases are often crowded with people and vigorous action (see ''War against the Fallen Angels'' at the Galleria Brera in Milan). He is known for paintings in ''Ca Rezzonico'' in Venice, the ''Palazzo del Podesta'' in Vicenza, and in the Church of ''Santa Maria del Soccorso'' (''La Rotonda'') in

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; egl, Ruig) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of Northeast Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Venice and south-southwest of P ...

(1644–55). He also painted in the Oratory of San Nicola da Tolentino in Vicenza. He was trained under the

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

painter,

Alessandro Maganza Adorazione della Vergine con gli Angeli (1581) Alessandro Maganza (1556–1630) was an Italian painter of the Mannerist style, born and active in Vicenza, as well as in Venice. He likely trained with his father, Giovanni Battista Maganza, also ...

, yet was influenced by a variety of painters, including

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, an Italian chees ...

Jacopo Bassano Jacopo Bassano (c. 1510 – 14 February 1592), known also as Jacopo dal Ponte, was an Italian painter who was born and died in Bassano del Grappa near Venice, and took the village as his surname. Trained in the workshop of his father, Francesco t ...

Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with ...

, and Magnasco. He is known to have traveled briefly to Venice in 1638, where he would have encountered the then brash new baroque painterly style of

Liss Liss, Lyss or LISS may refer to *Liss (band), a Danish musical group *Liss (name), a given name and surname *Liss, Hampshire, a village in England **West Liss, the oldest part of Liss village **Liss Forest, a hamlet near Liss **Liss Athletic F.C. ...

Strozzi Strozzi is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Numerous members of the Strozzi family, an ancient later ennobled family from Florence ** Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi (c. 1408–1471), an Italian businesswoman and aristocr ...

, and

Fetti ''Fetti'' is a collaborative studio album by American rappers Curren$y and Freddie Gibbs and record producer The Alchemist. It was released on October 31, 2018 for streaming and digital download by Jet Life Recordings, ESGN Records and ALC Recor ...

. Maffei left Vicenza in 1657 and settled in Padua, where he died of the plague. He influenced a variety of painters, including

Andrea Celesti Andrea Celesti (1637–1712) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, working in Venice. His style gravitated over the years from a turgid and academic weightiness to a lighter, looser brushstroke. Biography Celesti was born in Venice and i ...

(c1637-1711) and

Antonio Bellucci Antonio Bellucci (19 February 1654 – 29 August 1726) was an Italian soldier who became a painter of the Rococo period and was best known for his work in England, Germany, and Austria. He was one of the many Venetian-trained artists of his time ...

(1654–1727), a mentor of

Sebastiano Ricci Sebastiano Ricci (1 August 165915 May 1734) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque school of Venice. About the same age as Piazzetta, and an elder contemporary of Tiepolo, he represents a late version of the vigorous and luminous Cortonesqu ...

The Maffei family

The

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

von Maffei or Maffei is a

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

name, derived from the Germanic

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known ...

Matthäus. The Maffei family is of ancient German origin and, more precisely, in the 8th century A.D. derived from the Germanic tribe of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

. In ancient times the Maffei family settled in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Reception

Maffei's painting of a woman holding a sword and a head in a bowl was analysed by

Erwin Panofsky Erwin Panofsky (March 30, 1892 in Hannover – March 14, 1968 in Princeton, New Jersey) was a German-Jewish art historian, whose academic career was pursued mostly in the U.S. after the rise of the Nazi regime. Panofsky's work represents a hig ...

. He suggested that it alludes to both the story of Judith and the story of

Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...

. However Panofsky concludes that the painting is of a certain "type", that there is precedent in Northern Italian of including the bowl of John in depictions of Judith. From this he argues for the use of historical pictorial traditions as evidence for interpreting painting.

References

Sources

*
Web Gallery Art biography
*

Gallery

Francesco Maffei - Perseus Liberating Andromeda - WGA13836.jpg, Perseus and Andromeda Maffei, Francesco - Sight - 1657-58.jpg, "Sight" (Ganymede?) Accademia - Francesco Maffei - Mythological Scene.jpg, Mythologic Scene Francesco Maffei - Perseus Beheading Medusa - WGA13835.jpg, Perseus and Medusa

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maffei, Francesco 1605 births 1660 deaths 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Baroque painters Painters from Venice