carlo maratti and the barberini family: two paintings for...

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Palestrina’, in idem, ed.: La chiesa di Santa Rosalia. La cappella dei principi Barberini a Palestrina, Palestrina 2015, pp.15–17.2 G.P. Bellori: Le vite de’ pittori, scultori e architetti moderni, ed. E. Borea, Turin 1976, p.589.3 F.S. Baldinucci: Vite di artisti dei secoli XVII–XVIII, ed. A. Matteoli, Rome 1975, p.298.4 L. Pascoli: Vite de’ pittori, scultori, ed architetti moderni, ed. A. Marabottini, Peru-gia 1992, pp.204-05.5 A. Lo Bianco: Carlo Maratti e gli ‘Apostoli’ Barberini, in L. Barroero et al., eds: Maratti e l’Europa, Rome 2015, p.229.6 L. Cecconi: Storia di Palestrina città del prisco Lazio, Ascoli 1756, p.375. Mezzetti

IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, Palestrina, about 40 kilometres east of Rome, was the main town of an important principal-ity, which in 1630 was acquired by the Barberini family from Francesco Colonna.1 It is not widely known that Carlo Maratti (1625–1713) painted two altarpieces for churches in Palestrina. One, which has not survived, was for the high altar of S. Rosa- lia, the other for the church of the Annunciation. The first of Maratti’s biographers to mention the S. Rosalia painting was G.P. Bellori (1613–96), who accurately describes its subject, S. Rosalia interceding for victims of the plague in Palestrina. He also states that the painting was commissioned by Prince Maffeo Barberini (1631–85), whose palace was attached to the church of S. Rosalia, to fulfil a vow made by the town council during an outbreak of plague in 1656, when the people prayed to S. Rosalia of Palermo, known for her protection from epidemics. Bellori adds that the painting had already been moved to Palazzo Barberini in Rome and replaced with a copy by Francesco Reale, whom Bellori de-scribes as a pupil of Maratti. According to Bellori, this transfer was made for reasons of conservation, above all because the can-vas was in direct contact with the rock on which the church was built.2 Regarding the date of the painting, Bellori writes only that it was executed after the epidemic.

Of Maratti’s other biographers, Francesco Saverio Baldi- nucci (1663–1738), writing around 1725–30, adds no useful in-formation about the date of the altarpiece. He simply describes and praises the canvas, which he wrongly believed had been commissioned by Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1607–71).3 Lione Pascoli (1674–1744) believed that Maratti painted the altarpiece during the papacy of Alexander VII (reg.1655–67), while he was restoring an old painting in Palazzo Barberini and executing a series of paintings of the Apostles commis-sioned by the cardinal. The first of this series, St Peter, was the work of Andrea Sacchi, after whose death the commission was continued by Maratti.4 Anna Lo Bianco has demonstrated that Maratti painted the majority of these canvases – St Paul, St James the Great, St James the Less, St Bartholomew, St Matthew the Evangelist and St Simon – between 1666 and 1671,5 but a further two were painted later. According to Pascoli, Maratti executed eleven Apostles in all, but does not give a precise date for them.

Carlo Maratti and the Barberini family: two paintings for churches in Palestrina

by GIOVAN BATTISTA FIDANZA

I would like to thank my friends and colleagues Nicoletta Marconi, Roberta Iacono and Luigi Cacciaglia. Thanks also to Sonja Brink, Sabina Marinetti, Agos-tino Oliva, His Excellency Domenico Sigalini, Bishop of Palestrina, Fr. Ludovico Borzi, parish priest of the Cathedral of Palestrina, Monsignor Vito Cinti, Canon of the Cathedral of Palestrina, and Monsignor Felicetto Gabrielli. The technical investigations were carried out by Emmebi Diagnostica Artistica of Rome: special thanks to Marco Cardinali and Maria Beatrice De Ruggieri for their valuable advice. This research has been undertaken as part of the Smart Campus project, supervised by the Vice-President of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Profes-sor Maurizio Talamo, to whom I express my gratitude.1 R. Iacono: ‘La chiesa di Santa Rosalia. La cappella privata dei Barberini a

12. S. Rosalia interceding for victims of the plague in Palestrina, by Carlo Maratti. 1668. Canvas, dimensions unknown. (Formerly Palazzo Corsini, Florence, destroyed; photograph 1934).

Pascoli’s contention that the Palestrina altarpiece and the Apos-tles were carried out for the Barberini family at the same time could refer to the group painted in 1666–71.

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Computisteria, 373, Giornale BB 1658–1660 (Principe Maffeo Barberini), fol.202r. Ac-cording to Gampp, op. cit. (note 6), p.352, the first payments for the construction of the church are dated February 1658.9 BAV, Archivio Barberini, Computisteria, 373/B, Giornale DD 1665–1670 (Principe Maffeo Barberini), pp.167 and 178.10 Gampp, op. cit. (note 6), p.352, with previous bibliography.11 BAV, Archivio Barberini, Computisteria, 366, Libro Mastro del Principe Maffeo Barberini (1661–1664), fol.217v.12 On Leonardo De Sanctis, see L. Calenne: ‘La poliedrica attività del “coloraro” Leonardo De Sanctis all’ombra del Cardinale Federico Sforza, ed alcune novità su Agostino Verrocchi e sull’esordio romano di Mattia e Gregorio Preti’, in M. Gal-lo, ed.: I Cardinali e l’Arte. Rome 2013, II, pp.67–95, with previous bibliography.

was the first to propose this date: A. Mezzetti: ‘Contributi a Carlo Maratti’, Rivista dell’Istituto Nazionale d’Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte 4 (1955), pp.265 and 323, which was accepted by Borea, op. cit. (note 2), p.589, and A.C. Gampp: ‘Santa Rosalia in Palestrina. Die Grablege der Barberini und das ästhetische Konzept der “Mag-nificentia”’, Römisches Jahrbuch der Bibliotheca Hertziana 29 (1994), p.357. A date of between 1657 and 1660 was proposed by L. Bortolotti: ‘Carlo Maratti (Maratta)’, Dizionario biografico degli italiani, Rome 2007, LXIX, p.445, which was accepted by A. Fralleoni: ‘Francesco Reali e la pala d’altare di Santa Rosalia’, in Iacono, op. cit. (note 1), pp.31–32. The only scholar to date the painting to the year of the plague was P. Collura: Santa Rosalia nella storia e nell’arte, Palermo 1977, p.81.7 P. Petrini: Memorie Prenestine disposte in forma di Annali, Rome 1795, p.259.8 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (cited hereafter as BAV), Archivio Barberini,

to unspecified undertakings), which shows that from 15th November 1657 to February 1660 just over 4,000 scudi had been spent on construction.8 Work on the church’s decoration was in progress some years before the altarpiece was commissioned. In 1666 Maffeo paid the considerable sum of 840 scudi, 35 baiocchi to the stonemason Giovanni Battista Borsella for work inside the church, which was overseen by its architect, Francesco Contini (1599–1669). Maffeo also paid 150 scudi to a certain Giuseppe Ceccolani for marble decoration for the high altar.9 This suggests that the structure that would house Maratti’s picture was then undergoing a complete remodel-ling, since the previous altar was made of wood and painted in chiaroscuro in 1659.10 Maratti’s canvas replaced an altarpiece by Leonardo De Sanctis, who was paid 9 scudi, 23 baiocchi for it by Maffeo on 31st October 1662.11 As well as being a medio-cre painter, De Sanctis was an art dealer, who in 1631 counted Taddeo Barberini (1603–47) among his clients.12 The need to provide a painting of higher quality than that by De Sanctis

The dating of the S. Rosalia altarpiece (the church had only one altar) is resolved by documents in the Barberini archive. It was completed in October 1668, when Rugino Cappelloni, Maffeo Barberini’s accountant, paid Maratti 300 scudi for the painting (see Appendix 1 below). Pascoli’s reference to Alexander VII, who died in 1667, might therefore be connected to the date the altarpiece was commissioned. Unaware of this document, scholars have generally dated the painting to around 1660, thanks to a statement by a historian of Palestrina, Leonardo Cecconi, that the church of S. Rosalia was completed in that year.6 However, Cecconi states only that the first mass was celebrated in the church on 7th November 1660, without saying that its construction had been completed or, more im-portantly, that Maratti’s painting was already above the altar.

According to another historian of Palestrina, Pietrantonio Petrini, S. Rosalia was completed in 1677,7 but its construction was begun in 1657, confirmed by the earliest evidence of pay-ments connected to the building work (a final account relating

13. Annunciation, by Carlo Maratti and workshop. 1686. Canvas, 223.5 by 173 cm. (Cathedral of Palestrina).

14. Ultraviolet photograph of Fig.13.




Barocca dai registri di Sant’Andrea delle Fratte (1650–1699), Rome 2012, p.501.17 See notes 41 and 42 below.18 BAV, Archivio Barberini, Computisteria, 368, Libro Mastro del Principe Maffeo Barberini (1671–1676), fol.497r.19 Baldinucci, op. cit. (note 3), p.298.20 Fralleoni, op. cit. (note 6), p.32. The date the photograph was taken (1934) is recorded in the Archive of the Gabinetto Fotografico Nazionale in Rome. I am grateful to Elena Berardi of the Archive for her assistance.21 R.E. Spear: ‘Rome. Setting the Stage’, in idem and Philp Sohm, eds.: Painting for Profit: The Economic Lives of Seventeenth-century Italian Painters, New Haven and London 2010, pp.79 and 87–88.

painting was moved to Rome during the papacy of Clement X (1670–76), a suggestion that is supported by new document- ary evidence. On 22nd June 1675 Reale was paid 49 scudi by Maffeo for copying three pictures, including a S. Rosalia, which is almost certainly Maratti’s Palestrina painting (the others were a portrait of an unspecified king of Spain and a small painting whose subject is unknown).18

Baldinucci states that the purported bad state of the altar-piece was only a pretext for moving it to Palazzo Barberini. In reality, he writes, a member of the family – whom he does not name – wanted to add this particularly beautiful picture to his collection in Rome.19 Baldinucci was probably right: Reale’s copy has also been in direct contact with the rock behind it, without presenting any particular conservation problems. The original painting was undoubtedly of high quality, even if to-day we can appreciate it only from a photograph taken in 1934 (Fig.12), since it was destroyed in a fire in the early 1970s in Palazzo Corsini, Florence, to which it had been moved in the 1930s for reasons of inheritance.20 Maratti brought his highly dramatic scene to life with intense and anatomically convinc-ing renditions of the nude or semi-nude plague victims in the lower part of the canvas, who are contrasted with the idealised nudity of the cherubs and the angel in the upper part. The pathos of the scene is directly connected to a view of the town of Palestrina in the background.

The high significance that this subject held for Maffeo Bar-berini – and for his entire family – points to some interesting elements in the painting that also explain the relatively large sum (300 scudi) Maratti was paid for it. Since it must have been exactly the same size as Reale’s copy (264.7 by 183 cm.), it was quite large. More significantly, the composition included many figures, some of which – the nude bodies – were difficult to execute. A comparison with a painting by Maratti commis-sioned when Filippo Benizi was canonised (1671) underlines the high price paid for the S. Rosalia altarpiece: although the other painting was considerably larger (244 by 346 cm.), the artist received the same sum of 300 scudi. In the 1670s and 1680s the price of Maratti’s paintings was to increase in pro-portion to his fame.21

In addition to the plague in Palestrina, S. Rosalia had an-other relevance for the Barberini family, as it was Urban VIII who in 1630 had added her name to the Roman martyrolo-gy.22 Maratti must thus have been strongly motivated to do his best, both in the painting’s preparatory stages and in its final execution.23 Revising the painting’s date to eight years later than has been generally accepted places it at a time when the artist was enjoying particular success. In 1668 Maratti’s master, Andrea Sacchi, had already been dead for seven years, and the other great painter active in Rome, Pietro da Cortona, was nearing the end of his career. In 1668 Maratti could have been

was probably due to the fact that on 12th September 1668 the high altar of S. Rosalia was declared a privileged altar by Pope Clement IX.13 This status was highly important, because it allowed a soul to be released from Purgatory at every mass celebrated at such an altar on certain feast days or times of year. It seems likely that Maratti was commissioned to provide a new altarpiece in anticipation of the altar’s changed status.

In addition, Maffeo Barberini’s financial records suggest a date for the copy of Maratti’s painting that was subsequently placed over the high altar (in situ), making it possible to deduce when the original was moved to Rome.14 As Bellori recounts,15 the copy is by a pupil and collaborator of Maratti, Frances-co Reale, also known as Francesco Pavia or Pavese, after his birthplace.16 A second-rate painter, he worked for the Barber-ini on various practical tasks associated with the decoration of their palaces and other properties and also painted copies of paintings.17 Baldinucci leads us to understand that Maratti’s

13 BAV, Archivio Barberini, Indice II, 3307, Palestrina. Chiese, benefizj, ed opere pie. Chiesa di S. Rosalia. Breve di indulgenza di Papa Clemente IX nella Chiesa di S. Rosalia per il giorno della commemorazione di tutti i defonti, e sua ottava, et in due giorni di ciascun mese per sette anni, lì 12 Settembre 1668, loose sheet.14 A painting by Maratti depicting S. Rosalia and plague victims is recorded in two of Maffeo Barberini’s inventories: one of 1686 and another generically dated to after 1672. Since the iconography, size and the painter correspond, this picture can be identified as the altarpiece from Palestrina, see M. Aronberg Lavin: Seventeenth- century Barberini Documents and Inventories of Art, New York 1975, pp.379 and 400.15 Bellori, op. cit. (note 2), p.589.16 On Reale, see L. Bartoni: Le vie degli artisti. Residenze e botteghe nella Roma

15. Annunciation, by Robert van Audenaerd, after Carlo Maratti. 1700–10. Engraving, 46.1 by 33.5 cm. (British Museum, London).




considered the most important painter in Rome, and in 1664–65 he held the office of President of the Accademia di S. Luca for the first time. Although Maffeo was not one of Maratti’s usual Barberini patrons, his financial records reveal a previ-ously unknown commission: in 1664, four years before the S. Rosalia altarpiece, he paid Maratti 42 scudi for a circular painting of an unspecified subject.24

Maratti’s other altarpiece in Palestrina was an Annunciation for the high altar of the church of the Annunciation, which was demolished after the town’s bombardment on 22nd January 1944.25 In 1663 Maffeo assumed the patronage of the church, which gave him the right to nominate the parish priest.26 So, the church of the Annunciation became another sacred place in Palestrina under the direct control of the Barberinis. In addition to pastoral matters, the Barberini family was also interested in the decoration of the church, although not until some years after acquiring its patronage. The only document- ary sources relating to the decoration are the reports of pas-toral visitations. In the 1660 report it is stated, without giving

22 See Collura, op. cit. (note 6), p.84.23 A drawing catalogued as a study for this painting is in the Metropolitan Mus-eum of Art, New York, see J. Bean: ‘Drawings’, Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 115 (1984–85), p.26.24 BAV, Archivio Barberini, Computisteria, 373/A, Giornale CC 1661–1664 (Prin- cipe Maffeo Barberini), p.653.25 R. Iacono: ‘La chiesa della Santissima Annunziata in Palestrina’, in A. Fiasco and R. Iacono, eds.: La Parrocchia della Santissima Annunziata nel rione degli Scacciati, Palestrina 2013, p.100. The church of the Annunciation was rebuilt in 1950.26 BAV, Archivio Barberini, Indice II, 3233, Palestrina. Descrizione dei diritti della

famiglia Barberini sulla Parochia della SS.ma Annunziata (sec. XVIII), loose sheet, and BAV, Archivio Barberini, Indice II, 3238, Palestrina. Chiese, Benefizj, ed opere pie. Chiesa e Parochia [sic] della SS.ma Annunziata, loose sheet.27 ‘Adest icona cum imaginem S.mae Annunciationis’. Archivio Storico Diocesano, Pal-estrina (cited hereafter as ASDP), Visita pastorale della Diocesi di Palestrina, 1660, p.40.28 ‘Altare sub invocatione Beatissimae Annunciationis, cuius imago in eius icona depicta conspicitur cum sua coronide peropportune incisa’. ASDP, Visita pastorale della Diocesi di Palestrina, 1669, fol.31r.29 In the reports of the Pastoral Visitations of 1712, 1729 and 1735 (also in the archive of the diocese of Palestrina) the high altar is not described.

16–18. X-radiograph of Fig.13. Details.

details, that above the high altar – then the only altar – there was a painting of the Annunciation.27 The report of the 1669 visitation – the first following Maffeo Barberini’s assumption of the patronage – records that there was now a painted image of the Madonna enclosed in a carved frame.28 The high altar is not mentioned in the 1679 report, whereas in that of 1687 there is a reference to an ‘elegant and fine’ painting of the Annun-ciation over an elaborate stucco altar (see Appendix 2). This suggests that between 1679 and 1687 the high altar had been completely remodelled.

The ‘elegant and fine’ altarpiece was Maratti’s painting, which is accurately described, with some interesting details, in an inventory of the church from 1740,29 in which the high altarpiece is mentioned twice, in both cases with a reference to Maratti (see Appendix 3). The words of this inventory can be interpreted as follows: the writer uses a speculative wording (‘dicesi’) to ascribe the painting to Maratti, repeating it on both occasions. The first time he adds the adverb ‘quasi’ (not entire-ly), to indicate that the painter had delegated some parts of it to




36 ForAudenaerd,seeJ.B.Descamps:La vie des peintres flamands, allemands et hol-landois, Paris1763,IV,pp.49–53.Theengravingis listedamongtheengravingsafterMarattibyLeBlanc,whoalsorecordsthebeginningofoneofitsinscriptions(Cum privil. . .),seeC.LeBlanc:Manuel de l’amateur d’estampes,Paris1854–88,I,p.67,no.14.RudolphconsidersthattheengravingmentionedbyLeBlancrelatestotheAnnunciation inPalazzoQuirinale,Rome,seeS.Rudolph: ‘TheToribioillustrationsandsomeconsiderationsonengravingsafterCarloMaratti’,Antologia di belle arti7–8(1978),p.202.37 Onthesetwopaintings,seeC.Maltese:Arte nel frusinate dal secolo XII al XIX,Frosinone1961,p.47;andL.LaureatiandL.Trezzani,eds.:Pittura antica. La quad-reria,Milan1993,pp.53–55.

Barberini.31Theattributionwasrepeatedin1851byGaetanoMoroni.32 Following these two brief references, the paint-ing isnotmentionedagain inpublicationsonMaratti–notevenamonghislostworks–until2013,whenRobertaIaconoclaimedthatthepicturewasdestroyedinthe1944bombard-ment.33 However, it has survived (Fig.13), although not in aperfectstateofconservationand–asanultravioletphotographshows – it has undergone some retouching (Fig.14), which,however,doesnotcompromisetheoriginalimage.Fortunate-ly,thepaintinghadbeenmovedfromthechurchtoaplaceofsafetybeforethebombardment,aswasreportedinaninvesti-gationcarriedoutbytheCommissioneCentraleItalianaperl’ArteSacrain1945(seeAppendix4).ThecanvasisnowinthestoreroomoftheCathedralofPalestrina:accordingtoMon-signorVitoCinti,deanofthecathedral’schapter,whoservedinthecathedralfrom1939,andasitsparishpriestfrom1944,itwastakenfromthechurchtotheseminaryinPalestrinabeforethebombardment,andfromtheretothecathedral’sstoreroomin1982.34The identificationof thepainting asMaratti’s lostAnnunciationisconfirmedbyanengravingmadeafterit,datedto1700–10(Fig.15).Itisinscribed‘Carol. Marrattus pinx.’(bot-tomleft)and‘R. V. Auden Aerd sculp.’ (bottomright).35RobertvanAudenaerd (1663–1743)wasapupilofMaratti aswell asoneofhispreferredengravers.36

ThestyleofthepaintingisclearlyrecognisableasMaratti’s.ThepresenceofpentimentionthelefthandandthelefteyeoftheVirgin,revealedbyanX-radiograph(Figs.16–18),suggeststhatitisnotareplica.ItseemsthatMarattiexperimentedwithtwopositionsforthepupiloftheeye,intheendchoosingthehigherone.TheelementoftheVirgin’sfacemostcharacteris-ticofMaratti,apartfromitsplumpness,isthesizeofhereyes,towhich,astheX-radiographshows,theartistpaidparticularattention.ItalsorevealsthatMarattiusedacartoon,atleastforthefigureoftheVirgin.HefirsttriedtopositiontheVirginontherightofthecanvas;hersketchedfigureisaperfectmir-ror-imageoftheonesubsequentlypaintedontheleft.

Thediscovery that acartoonwasused, togetherwith thepresenceofonlyafewpentimenti,suggests thatMarattihadthe help of one or more assistants, who completed certainsectionsoverhisunderpaintingwithoutchangingthedesign.Thiscartooncannotbe linked toanyotherknownAnnun-ciation by Maratti, none of which is the same size as thePalestrina canvas: the Annunciation of 1663 for S. AntonioAbateinAnagni,forexample,measures353by246cm.;theAnnunciation in the Quirinale Palace of 1673 measures 144by 105 cm.37 These two paintings, although similar to thePalestrinacanvas,showseveraldifferences.

hisworkshop.TheinventorystatesthatthepaintingwaspaidforbyFrancescoBarberinitheYounger(1662–1738)whenhewasanabbot,allowingittobedatedbefore13thNovember1690,whenhewaselectedacardinal.30Thereisnoreasontodoubttheevidenceoftheinventory,drawnuponlytwoyearsafterthecardinal’sdeath.

Petrini(1795)wasthefirsttorecordinprintthatthisAnnun- ciation was by Maratti, and that it had been paid for by the

30 L.Cardella:Memorie storiche de’ cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa,Rome1794,VIII, pp.24–25. InFrancescoBarberini theYounger’s accounts he is named asabbotforthefirsttimein1680,seeBAV,ArchivioBarberini,Computisteria,453,Registro di lettere di cambio e ordini dell’Ecc.mo Signore D. Francesco Barberini. Dalli 22 Settembre 1680 per tutto l’anno 1689,fol.5v.31 Petrini,op. cit. (note7),p.281.32 G.Moroni:Dizionario di erudizione storico-eccelsiastica,Venice1851,LI,p.27.33 Iacono,op. cit. (note25),p.89.34 TherearenocatalogueentriesforthepaintingintheMonumentsandFineArtsOfficeofLazio.35 For thisengraving, see itsentryon thewebsiteof theBritishMuseum, inv.no.1874,0808.1631:www.britishmuseum.org.

19.Virgin of the Annunciation,afterCarloMaratti.Eighteenthcentury.Redchalkonwhitepaper,43.1by27.6cm.(MuseumKunstpalast,SammlungderKunstakademieDüsseldorf ).




20. Annunciation, by Carlo Maratti. After 1686. Oil on copper, 67.6 by 49.5 cm. (Royal Collection Trust, London; © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017).




del Sig. Carlo Maratti a spese dell’Em. Signore Cardinale Francesco Barber-ini Juniore, allora Abbate. [fol.17r] 2. Nell’altare la sagra imagine della SS.ma Vergine rappresentante il misterio della SS.ma Nunziata, che dicesi fatto dal Maratta, e d’avanti col suo tendino di taffetano verde con suoi cordoni.

4. Extract from a 1945 inventory of postwar damage to the town of Palestrina, referring to the removal of Maratti’s altarpiece from the church of the Annunciation before the church was destroyed. (Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Fondo Commissione Centrale per l’arte Sacra, Archivio generale, no.5, Palestrina, (1945), fol.9r).

SS.ma Annunziata: Furono distrutti tre quadri: dell’Angelo Custode, di Santo Stefano, dei Santi Isidoro e Gordiano. È stato salvato quello dell’altare mag-giore raffigurante la Vergine Annunziata opera del Maratto [sic], ma più volte ritoccato da mano profana. È stato salvato perché rimossa dal suo posto qualche tempo prima del bombardamento.

5. Expenses for Francesco Reale, paid on behalf of Monsignor Francesco Barberini the Younger, for the purchase of canvas and pigments for an ‘Annunciation’ for Palestrina. (BAV, Archivio Barberini, Giustificazioni I, 381, Giustificazioni diverse [di Mons. Francesco Barberini] dell’anni 1686–1687, fol.267r).

Denari spesi per servizio del Eminentissmo Signore Don Francesco Barberini Patrone da me Francesco Reale. Per una tella [sic] di palmi otto che à servito per far una S.ma Anontiata qual servì per Pelestrina sc. 1.40. Per azuro per il manto della Madona [sic] et altri colori sc. 3.50.

205333-Annonciation-max, accessed 1st July 2017.40 (NRW), inv. no. KA (FP) 9885. See A. Sutherland Harris and E. Schaar, eds.: Kataloge des Kunstmuseums Düsseldorf, 1: Die Handzeichnungen von Andrea Sacchi und Carlo Maratta, Düsseldorf 1967, p.191, no.684.41 BAV, Archivio Barberini, Giustificazioni I, 381, Giustificazioni diverse di mons. Francesco Barberini dell’anni 1686–1687, fols.177r, 280r and 400r.42 Ibid., fol.520r.43 BAV, Archivio Barberini, Giustificazioni I, 386, Giustificazioni diverse dell’anni 1689 e 90 spettante monsig. ecc.mo [Francesco] Barberini, fol.404v.

38 Michael Levey considered the Annunciation in the Royal Collection to be a replica of another work in oil on copper (37 by 28 cm.) attributed to Maratti in the Hermit-age Museum, St Petersburg, but this is in fact a replica of the Annunciation in Palazzo Quirinale: see M. Levey: The Later Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 2nd ed., Cambridge 1991, p.109. On the Royal Collection Annunciation, see also D. Shawe-Taylor, ed.: exh. cat. The First Georgians: Art and Monarchy 1714–1760, London (Queen’s Gallery) 2014, p.236, no.127. Mezzetti connects Audenaerd’s engraving to the Hermitage Annunciation, see Mezzetti, op. cit. (note 6), p.326.39 27.3 by 19.7 cm., inv. no.17843; arts-graphiques.louvre.fr/detail/oeuvres/1/

A small replica in oil on copper (67.6 by 49.5 cm.) of the Pal-estrina altarpiece is in the Royal Collection, and is currently on display at Hampton Court Palace, London (Fig.20). Attributed to Maratti, the painting shows a few stylistic differences from both the original and its engraving: in particular, the face of the Virgin appears slightly less plump.38 In addition, two drawings can be connected to the Palestrina painting because they show certain details that are not present in Maratti’s other two paint-ings of the subject, notably the position of the open book in the Virgin’s hand. One of these drawings, attributed to Sebastiano Conca (Musée du Louvre, Paris) copies the entire composition of the painting with few changes.39 The other, in the Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, is a copy of the figure of the Madonna, probably dating from the late seventeenth century (Fig.19).40

A further document throws light on the creation of the Pal-estrina Annunciation. Among Francesco Barberini the Young-er’s accounts for the years 1686 and 1687 is an undated list of payments made by Francesco Reale. Since the document is bound with payment details relating to 1686, it can be dated to that year. It records the purchase of a large canvas of 8 palmi (about 178 cm.) for a painting representing an Annunciation for Palestrina and for the necessary pigments. Of these, only the blue for the Virgin’s mantle is specified; given its relatively low

cost, it must have been smalt (see Appendix 5). Since there is no evidence that Barberini commissioned another Annunciation, there is no doubt that this is Maratti’s painting, which measures slightly under 8 palmi in width.

Francesco Barberini the Younger often asked Reale to buy pigments and canvases for paintings and curtains and to com-mission artisans to make frames and other decorative items. These activities are documented on at least four occasions in 1686 and 1687.41 On 16th November 1687 Reale was reim-bursed for the cost of canvases and pigments for new paintings and for wool to line existing ones. He was also paid 50 baioc-chi as reimbursement for pigments and varnish bought for the restoration of a painting of St Roch. The document reveals that this last payment was the result of a request Reale had received from Maratti, who was working for Barberini.42 It is highly probable, therefore, that Reale also bought the canvas and pigments for Maratti for his Annunciation in Palestrina, and it is equally probable that Reale assisted him in its execution. This is further evidence for dating the painting to 1686. In January 1690 Barberini asked his porters to deliver some un-specified gifts to Maratti, confirming the friendship between the two men; the Annunciation in Palestrina may have helped to strengthen the relationship.43

Appendix

1. Payment by Prince Maffeo Barberini’s treasurer of 300 scudi to his accountant, Rugino Cappelloni, who had disbursed that amount to Carlo Maratti in October 1668 for having painted the altarpiece for the church of S. Rosalia in Palestrina. (BAV, Archivio Barberini, Computist- eria, 380, Registro di mandati 1662–1673 (Principe Maffeo Barberini) p.440).

Signori Tomasso Baccelli e compagni nostri Depositarii si compiaceranno pagare a Rugino Cappelloni nostro esattore scudi Trecento moneta quali gli facciamo pagare per suo rimborso altretanti da lui pagati a Carlo Maratta pittore nel mese di Ottobre prossimo passato per il prezzo d’un quadro di S. Rosolia [sic] fatto da esso per servizio della nostra chiesa in Pelestrina che con ricevuta etc., lì 14 Novembre 1668. Scudi 300.

2. Description of the high altar of the church of the Annunciation in Palestrina from the report of the 1687 Pastoral Visitation to the Diocese. (ASDP, Visita pastorale della Diocesi di Palestrina, 1687, fols.62v–63r).

Altare in quo colitur Sanctissimum est sub invocatione eiusdem Beatae Mariae Virginis S.mae Annunciationis, cuius misterium eleganter decentique pictura in icone exprimitur; condecoratur columnis cementariis, et aliis ornamentis ex stucco approbe elaboratis.

3. Description of the church of the Annunciation in Palestrina from a 1740 inventory of the church. (Palestrina, Archivio Parrocchiale della Chiesa della SS.ma Annunziata, Inventario, 1740, fol.8v).

La sudetta chiesa quantunque sia stata sempre parrochiale non è stata mai con-sagrata, era in essa una sola cappella o altare senza però sagrestia [. . .] nel detto altare fu posto un quadro rappresentante la SS.ma Nunziata dicesi quasi opera
