Carlo Manieri

Little is known of the life of Carlo Manieri, and up until a few decades ago his works were often confused with those of other similar artists from the period, most notably the Master of the Floridiana (active c. 1700) and Francesco Noletti, called Maltese (c. 1611 – 1654). The reason for this obscurity is largely due to the lack of archival documents that mention the artist; his name appears only three times in the inventories of the noble Roman collections (six of his paintings are registered in the 1714 Colonna inventory, two in the 1725 Pamphilj inventory, and two in the 1756 Valenti Gonzaga inventory).¹

Manieri played a central role in in Roman still-life painting during the second half of the seventeenth century, and his paintings are characterized by their dark, rich palettes and the inclusion of rich brocade fabrics which he often depicted draped on ledges decorated with classical motifs, as can be seen in the present pair.

1. G. Bocchi and U. Bocchi, Pittori di Natura Morta a Roma. Artisti Italiani 1630-1750, Verona 2005, pp. 525.