Study of a Putto Seated on a Corbel in a Shell Niche

ca. 1674–76

Not on view

The Great Hall of the Palazzo Altieri in Rome, where Maratti worked from 1674 to 1677, is punctuated by four windows along one of the upper walls. Three of the spandrels (a triangular-shaped field) above those windows have frescoes of a putto seated on a feigned corbel in a shell niche very similar to the design of the present sheet, which is a recently identified study for that part of the decoration. Several drawings for unexecuted parts of this elaborate decorative scheme are also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

For other preparatory studies by Carlo Maratti for the decoration of Palazzo Altieri in the Metropolitan Museum of Art see inv. nos. 64.295.1 and 61.169 (Virtue crowned by Honor), 66.53.3 (Allegory of Peace), 66.137 (Allegory of Divine Wisdom), and 65.206 (Plan for a Ceiling and Nude Figures).

Artwork Details

Title: Study of a Putto Seated on a Corbel in a Shell Niche
Artist: Carlo Maratti (Italian, Camerano 1625–1713 Rome)
Date: ca. 1674–76
Medium: Red chalk
Dimensions: Sheet: 7 x 5 1/16 in. (17.8 x 12.8 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Philippe and Edith de Montebello, 2008
Object Number: 2008.334.1
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Figure of Young Man or Woman in Bust-length, in Three-Quarter View, Carlo Maratti Italian, Black chalk on gray prepared paper — Figure of Young Man or Woman in Bust-length, in Three-Quarter View
Carlo Maratti
1700–1713

Virgin and Child with St. Mary Magdalen, Carlo Maratti Italian, Etching; second state of four (Bartsch) — Virgin and Child with St. Mary Magdalen
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