MICHELANGELO MAESTRI (1741-1812)

URANIA, THE MUSE OF ASTRONOMY
Gouache on paper
46 x 35 cm
 
PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Bern
 
 
 
 
Michelangelo Maestri is mainly known for his chiaroscuresque gouache paintings based on the (then only recently discovered) frescos from the ruins of Pompeii. Besides these classical designs, the artist also drew inspiration from the High Renaissance artists of Rome, namely Giulio Romano, Raphel and Giovanni da Udine, whose decorative schemes he would adapt for his own works.
 
 
Maestri's work was especially popular with Grand Tourists, and he established a studio which produced numerous works after his originals, with the quality varying between his autograph pieces (such as the present work) and his assistants', whose works are generally characterised by their more naive, heavy-handed application of gouache.  
 
Some of Maestri's most famous gouaches portray Cupid in the form of a putto on a chariot drawn by various animals. These were inspired by ceiling frescoes in the salone of Villa Lante, on the Janiculum Hill in Rome. Francesco Piranesi and Tommaso Piroli published these frescoes in a series of engravings in 1805, and it is likely that Maestri referred to these for his adaptations.