Portrait of Francesca Gommi, Wife of Carlo Maratti

c. 1670s-80s

Portrait of Francesca Gommi, Wife of Carlo Maratti, c. 1670s-80s. Carlo Maratti (Italian, 1625–1713). Red chalk on paper; image: 38.7 x 25.7 cm (15 1/4 x 10 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 2019.74 This portrait drawing by Carlo Maratti conveys the immediacy of being drawn while the artist looked directly at the sitter’s features. The sitter, Francesca Gommi, was Maratti’s mistress (later wife), who he also depicted in a formal portrait, now in the CMA’s collection (see 2018.1). This drawing, instead, depicts an intimate moment. Adding to the casual nature of the portrait, Gommi wears a whimsical rimless hat, which may be a sleeping cap. The sitter of this portrait was the mistress of the artist and later his wife.