Art, literature & historyMattia Preti
1613–1699
Selected artwork
A Man Cutting Tobacco
1660s
National Gallery of Art
Other names (101)
Cabalier Calabrese, Calabraze, Calabre, Calabr.e, Calabrèse, Calabrese Cavalier Matthia, Calabrese Cavalier Matthia Preti, Calabrese cavalier Preti, Calabrèse Mattia Preti, Calabresse, Calabresse Mattia Preti, Calabreze, Calabriese, Calabrise, Calabrise Mattia Preti, Calabrois, Calabrose, Calabrose Mattia Preti, Calavrese, Calavrese Mattia Preti, Callabrese, called the Cavalier Calabrese Mattia Preti, Catabrese, cavag.e Calabrese, Cavagliere Calabrese, Cavaglier Preti, Caval. Calabr.e, Cavalier Calabrese, cavalier Calabresi, Cavalier Calabrun, Cavalier de Calabreze, Cavaliere calabrese, Cavaliere Matthia Calabrese, Cavaliere Mattia Preti Calabrese, Cavalier Mathias, Cavalier Matthia Calabrese, Cavalier Mattia, Cavalier Mattia Calabrese, Cavalier Mattia Preta, Cavalier Mattia Preti, Cavalier Mattia Preti Calabrese, Cavalier Mattio, Cavalier Mattio Pret, Cavaliero Calabrese, Cavaliero Mattia, Cavaliero Mattia Preti, Cavaliero Mattio, Cavaliero Mattio Preti, Cavallier Calabrese, Cavalliero Calabrese, Caval.r Calabr.e, Caval.r Calabrese, Cav. Calabrese, Cav. Calabresi, Cav.le calabrese, Cav. Mattia Calabrese, Cav.r Calabrese, Cavr. Calabrese, Cav.r Calab.se, Cav.re Calabrese, Cav.re Mattia, Cav.r Mattia Calabrese, Chevalier Calabrese, Chevalier Calabrois, Chev. Callabras, de Maltheser Ridder, den Malthesen Ridder, detto il Calabrese Cavalier Mattia Preti, dir le Calabrese Le Chevalier Mathias, Dit Le Calabrais Mattia Preti, dit le Calabrese Le Cavalier Matthias Preti, dit le Calabrois Mathias Preti, dit le Calabrois Mattia Preti, dit le Cavalier Calabrois Mathias Pretri, dit le Chevalier Calabrois Mathias Preti, gen. Cavaller Calabrese Matthias Preti, Il Calabrese, Il Cavalier Calabrese, Il Cavalier Calabrese Preti, Kavalier Calabrese, Le Calabraise, le Calabrèse, Le Calabrois, Le Chevalier Calabrois, Le Chevalier Preti, Mathias Calabrois, Mathias Preti, Mathias Pretti, matteo, gen. il calabrese preti, matteo preti, Matteo Preti gen. Calabrese, matteo preti gen. il calabrese, matthia calabrese, Mattia Calabrese, Mattia Cavaliere Calabrese, Mattia Cav. Calabrese, Mattia Preti Calabrese, M. Preti, Muntia Preda, Prete Calabrese, Preti
Biography
Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was called Il Cavalier Calabrese (the Calabrian Knight) after appointment as a Knight of the Order of St. John (Knights of Malta) in 1660.
Mattia Preti was born in Taverna, a small town in Calabria, southern Italy, the third child in a large local middle-class family. He was baptised the day after his birth, on 26 February 1613, in the parish church of the Borgo San Martino district. The ceremony took place in the private family chapel belonging to his mother, Innocenza Schipani, who came from one of Taverna's fourteen noble families.
Preti grew up in an artistic environment that was on the fringes of the most vibrant cultural scenes of his time. In his native Calabria, art was still deeply rooted in the tradition of late Neapolitan Mannerism, as exemplified by painters such as Giovanni Balducci, Giovanni Bernardino Azzolini, and Fabrizio Santafede.
Wikipedia contributors. Opening excerpt, formatted for reading. CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision.
Influenced by
- Caravaggioeditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
Artworks by year
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Museums & collections
Documented holdings of works attributed to Mattia Preti. Check the museum’s record for current display information.
- Art Institute of Chicago2 recorded works
- Kunsthaus Zürich2 recorded works
- Museo Nacional del Prado2 recorded works
- MUŻA — The National Community Art Museum2 recorded works
- National Gallery of Art2 recorded works
- Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK)2 recorded works
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art2 recorded works
- Compton Verney Art Gallery1 recorded work
- Galleria d'Arte Moderna1 recorded work
- Musée de Grenoble1 recorded work
- musée Hyacinthe Rigaud — Perpignan1 recorded work
- The Cleveland Museum of Art1 recorded work
Sources 12
- Wikidata (CC0)
- National Gallery of Art
- Overnight primary-source person identity reconciliation
- Museum authority country review
- Pantheon 2025 — Datawheel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Museum authority country review
- SMK: exact creator authority reconciliation
- CH museum and gallery creator authorities
- US museum and gallery creator authorities
- Pantheon 2025 — Datawheel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Expanded artwork research — official museum evidence
- Pantheon 2025 — Datawheel (CC BY-SA 4.0)