The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Portrait of Francesca Gommi Maratti

Portrait of Francesca Gommi Maratti

c. 1701
(Italian, 1625–1713)
Italy
Oil on canvas
Overall: 98.5 x 74.5 cm (38 3/4 x 29 5/16 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 2018.1
Location: 217 Italian Baroque

Did You Know?

The sitter holds a drawing representing Venus making Cupid's weapons, symbolizing the power of love to conquer all.

Description

In 1700 Carlo Maratti’s wife died, permitting him to marry his longtime mistress, Francesca Gommi, who began modeling for the artist in the 1670s and was the mother of his only child, Faustina. This painting was presumably painted shortly after the marriage as an homage from the artist to his new wife. To introduce an allegorical element into the composition, Maratti included a painting within a painting—in this case a drawing depicting Venus forging the love-darts of her adolescent son Cupid, suggesting that love will conquer all.
  • by 1705
    [presumably] Carlo Maratti and Francesca Gommi Maratti, Casino d'Albano
    possibly until 1745
    [possibly] by descent to their daughter, Faustina Maratti Zappi (1679-1745)
    by 1911 - 1919
    Pietro Ceci (d. 1919), Rome
    1919 -
    by descent to his widow, Maria Barbani Ceci, and daughters, Feliciana Schiff-Giorgini and Adriana Misciatelli
    - 2004
    (Carlo Orsi, Milan)
    2004 -
    Luigi Koelliker, Milan
    (Robilant + Voena, London and Milan)
    2017
    (NIcholas Hall, New York, by whom sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2018-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Caversazzi, Ciro. Il Ritratto italiano dal Caravaggio al Tiepolo. Bergamo: Istituto Italiano d'Arti Grafiche, 1927. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 190-191 # 15
    Bershad, David L. “The Newly Discovered Testament and Inventories of Carlo Maratti and his Wife Francesca (Gommi).” Antologia di Belle Arti 25-26 (1985) 65-84. Mentioned: p. 70
    Natoli, Marina and Francesco Petrucci. Donne di Roma: dall'Impero Romano al 1860: Ritrattistica Romana al Femminile. Roma: De Luca Editori d'Arte, 2003. Reproduced: p. 24, #20
    Petrucci, Francesco, ed. Mola e Il Suo Tempo: Pittura Di Figura a Roma Dalla Collezione Koelliker. Geneva-Milan: Skira, 2005. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 228-229, #60
    Petrucci, Francesco. Pittura di Ritratto a Roma: il Settecento. Rome: Andreina & Valneo Budai, 2010. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 342-343, p. 650, #420
    Hall, Nicholas, Stella Rudolph and Ian Kennedy. Paintings by Carlo Maratti. New York: Nicholas Hall, 2017. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 32-35 www.nicholashjhall.com
    Sotheby’s, New York. Painting Passion: The Baroque in Italy. September 24, 2018. Lot 14. www.sothebys.com
    Agresti, Alessandro, and Carlo Maratti. Carlo Maratti: eredità ed evoluzioni del classicismo romano. Roma : De Luca editori d'arte, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 64, fig. 46
  • Lust, Love, and Loss in Renaissance Europe. The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL (organizer) (April 5-June 12, 2021).
    Recent Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 17-June 7, 2018).
    Recent Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 17, 2018 - June 6, 2018).
    Carlo Maratti 1625-1713. Nicholas Hall, New York, NY (2017).
    Mostra del Ritratto Italiano. Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy (1911), room 26, no. 17 (as “una scultrice,” and “scuola italiano”)
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Francesca Gommi Maratti|url=false|author=Carlo Maratti|year=c. 1701|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.1