Madonna and Child and Saint with Two Angels, about 1680

Red chalk on a green-blue paper, with rounded top

422 x 275 mm.; 16 5/8 x10 7/8 inches

Apollo and Daphne, about 1680

Pen and brown ink, brown wash

197 x 237 mm.; 7 3/4 x 9 1/4 inches

This drawing of the ancient God Apollo chasing the nymph Daphnae may be a study for an oil painting of the same subject now in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Belgium (Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts de Bélgique). The painting was commissioned by the French King, Louis XIV, and completed in 1681. This would provide an approximate date for the drawing. The subject of Apollo, the Sun God, would have been particularly appropriate for Louis XIV, known as the Sun King. For further information about the painting, see the Web Gallery of Art.

https://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/m/maratti/apollo_d.html

CARLO MARATTA

Camerano 1625 - 1713 Rome

Carlo Maratta (also called Maratti) for many decades was one of the favourite painters of the Popes. He was “under the protection” of Clement IV, Clement X, Innocent VI, Alexander VIII, Innocent VII and Clement XI. The death of the artists Andrea Saachi in 1661 and Pietro di Cortona in 1669 made Maratta the leader of the Roman School at that time.