Carlo Maratti and Engraving - 4th Centenary of Birth

An exhibition for the 400th anniversary of Carlo Maratti

In the heart of Ancona, the capital of the Marche Region, the Francesco Podesti Civic Art Gallery hosts the exhibition Carlo Maratti and Engraving, one of the main initiatives of the National Committee for the Celebrations of the 4th Centenary of the artist's birth. Maratti, born in Camerano (in the province of Ancona) in 1625 and died in Rome in 1713, was one of the leading figures of Baroque classicism and the official portraitist of popes and prelates, a student of Andrea Sacchi and a leader of late Baroque painting in Rome.

The 44 engravings on display

The exhibition path brings together 44 engravings, organized by type and function, documenting the relationship between painting, drawing, and print reproduction in the master's work. Maratti very early understood the importance of graphic arts for the dissemination of his style: he supervised over four hundred engravings based on his paintings and drawings and created thirteen early etchings himself. The exhibition juxtaposes:

• the artist's autograph engravings;
• print reproductions of his pictorial masterpieces;
• book illustrations and sheets related to the world of the Accademia dell'Arcadia.

A study exhibition by leading specialists

The exhibition is curated by Simonetta Prosperi Valenti Rodinò and Stefano Papetti, among the most authoritative scholars of Roman Baroque. The exhibition was accompanied by an international study day, hosted at the Art Gallery and moderated by Anna Maria Ambrosini Massari, with contributions from experts on 17th and 18th-century Rome.

The context: Marche and Ancona Italian Capital of Culture 2028

The exhibition is promoted by the Municipality of Ancona together with the Ministry of Culture, the Marche Region, and the Municipalities of Camerano and Ascoli Piceno, with the patronage of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca. The initiative is part of the path towards Ancona Italian Capital of Culture 2028 and enhances the deep bond between Maratti and the Marche territory, where the artist was born and where his works are still preserved today.