Mattia Preti

(Taverna, 1613 - Malta, 1699)

Report by Prof. Strinati

“The large painting depicting Isaac blessing Jacob (oil on canvas, 200 x 300 cm) is a typical and renowned composition by Mattia Preti known as the Calabrian cavalier (Taverna 1613-1699). The pictorial layout of our picture, of which there are other known versions, is the fully recognizable and typical one of the master's late production, to be exact the one included in the period covering the sixties and seventies of the seventeenth century during the very long Maltese phase. At this time Mattia Preti carried out a very intense and frequently carried out job, to satisfy the multiple and demanding tasks that he received from public and private clients, in collaboration with students. According to the sources, they must have been numerous and capable, as Bernardo De Dominici attests in his Life of the cavalier Fra' Mattia Preti known as the Calabrese cavalier included in the Lives of Neapolitan painters, sculptors and architects, third volume, Naples 1742 (in the modern edition edited by by Andrea Zezza, Paparo editions, Naples 2008 pp. 583-725). Our painting is certainly a collaborative work, however it can be mainly referred to the drafting of Preti himself assisted by a disciple whose name cannot be formulated due to lack of more detailed information. Nonetheless, the intrinsic quality of the painting in question, while having to recognize a partial autograph, is extremely high, and must undoubtedly be considered a work of considerable interest. Sincerely, Claudio Strinati”