Niccolò Berrettoni (15 December 1637 – February 1682) was an Italian painter of the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

period.

Life and work

He was born in

Macerata Feltria Macerata Feltria is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region Marche, located about west of Ancona and about southwest of Pesaro. Macerata Feltria borders the following municipalities: Lunano, Monte C ...

on December 14. 1637. As a child he studied under

Simone Cantarini Simone Cantarini or Simone da Pesaro, called ''il Pesarese'' (Baptized on 21 August 1612 – 15 October 1648) was an Italian Painting, painter and etcher. He is known mainly for his history paintings and portraits executed in an original styl ...

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

; at the death of this master, he moved circa 1670 to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to work for the large studio of

Carlo Maratta Carlo Maratta or Maratti (18 May 162515 December 1713) was an Italian Baroque painter and Drawing, draughtsman, active principallly in Rome where he was the leading painter in the second half of the 17th century. He was a fresco and canvas painte ...

. In 1675, while still in the orbit of

, he entered as an academic into the Roman painter's guild, the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...

. Under the patronage of Maratta, he obtained important commissions; however, in the last years of his life, his relationship with this master altered. According to Pascoli, in 1680 when Berrettoni was about to receive the commission of the ceiling fresco of the nave of

San Silvestro in Capite The Basilica of Saint Sylvester the First, also known as (, ), is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and titular church in Rome dedicated to Pope Sylvester I (d. AD 335). It is located on the Piazza San Silvestro, at the corner of Via del Gambero a ...

, Maratta, fearing the rising fame of his pupil, caused the commission to be assigned instead to the older Giacinto Brandi. Embittered by the affair, Pascoli said Berrettoni fell ill, and died in February 1682. Some of Berrettoni's painting executed for aristocratic clients, including the ''Flight to Egypt'' (mentioned in an estimate of 1724 and cited by Pascoli) are missing. Works ascribed to Berrettoni include: * Frescoes of Palazzo Altieri (1675), his most praised work, that were first confused with the painting of the ceiling in the first antechamber, which actually belongs to Domenico Maria Canuti, and only in 1961 were they identified by Clark with those of the current Red Hall. The decoration includes the oval of the ceiling with an allegory of passionate love (''Venus holding the torch, Cupids and the Three Graces'') and the two lateral lunettes with the ''Colloquium of Love and Psyche'' (or ''Venus and Cupid'') and ''Allegory of the Spring''. * Chapel of Santa Anna (3rd on right) in the church of Santa Maria in Montesanto (1679 - 1682), work in which he was involved included the ceiling oval depicting ''God in Glory'' in the clouds surrounded by angels, plumes with cherubs, the two lateral lunettes with the ''Meeting of Anna and Gioacchino'' and the ''Apparition of the Angel to Gioacchino''; the beautiful picture above the altar, today very darkened, which represents the ''Madonna with the Child and Saint Anna''. In the

Villa Falconieri The Villa Falconieri is a villa in Frascati, Italy. History The villa was originally called Villa Rufina, having been was initially built by Monsignor Alessandro Rufini. Later it was enlarged thanks to Pope Paul III, dating back to 1546. In 16 ...

Frascati Frascati () is a city and in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, ...

: two lunettes, one with portraits of the members of the Falconieri family, are stylistically similar to the figures of the vault of Santa Maria in Montesanto and to the lunettes found in the Palazzo Altieri. * Frescoes of the vault of the third chapel in Santa Maria del Suffragio, which he started, were entrusted by Maratta to

Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari (10 March 1654 – 8 September 1727), also known as simply Giuseppe Chiari, was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mostly in Rome. Biography Born in Rome, he was one of the main assistants, along wi ...

upon his death. * In Palazzo Oliva (formerly the Cattani house) and in the Casino of the villa Cattani in Paolucci in Trebbiantico there still exist frescoes by Berrettoni. * ''Marriage of Mary'' on the high altar of San Lorenzo in Piscibus in Rome, engraved by Pier Santi Bartoli. * ''Adoration of the Shepherds'' and the ''Baptism of Christ'' in the Gallery of Drescla. * ''Madonna with Child and Young St John the Baptist'' in the Museum of

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; ; ) is a (municipality) and capital of the province of Ascoli Piceno, in the Italy, Italian region of Marche. Geography The town lies at the confluence of the Tronto, River Tronto and the small Castellano (river), River Castell ...

. * ''Holy Family'' for Santa Maria in Montesanto, engraved by Frezza.

References

* ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Berretoni, Niccolo 1637 births 1682 deaths 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Baroque painters Pupils of Carlo Maratta