Mattia Preti, February 24, 1613–January 3, 1699, was an Italian painter born in Taverna, Calabria. He trained in Rome with his elder brother, Gregorio Preti, and studied paintings by Caravaggio and Paolo Veronese.

He worked in Rome and Naples before settling in Malta in 1661. A knight of the Order of St John, he received numerous church commissions, including the painted ceiling of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta.

His paintings are held by the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

Download All Images