Mattia Preti and Boethius : a meeting of art and philosophy in the baroque age the relationship between contemporaneous philosophy and Mattia Preti’s ‘Boethius and the consolation of philosophy’

Abstract

Summary: This study was inspired by the Mattia Preti painting of Boethius and the Consolation of Philosophy. The painting was executed around 1680 during the late period of Preti’s oeuvre. It exhibits theatricality, drama and tenebrism and is typical of his later years. It resided in the collection of the knight Fra Andrea di Giovanni until his death in 1715. It was later identified in a water colour by de Brocktorff which shows it on the wall of the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta. Thereafter, it disappeared until Sotheby’s sold it to the Maltese Government in 2020. The painting symbolically illustrates a dialogue between the dejected imprisoned Boethius and a female figure as an allegory of Philosophy, based on the iconography established at the end of the sixteenth century by Cesare Ripa. The painting reflects Book one of Boethius’s final work. Philosophy sits and consoles Boethius. She and Boethius discuss his fall from grace and explore virtue, evil, God and prescience. The research centred around four aspects, firstly outlining the relevant history that led to the incarceration of Boethius in the 6th century, Secondly, the philosophy that guided the life of Boethius together with how philosophy and particularly Stoicism would prevail in the Baroque Age and influence a knight of the Order of St. John. Thirdly, the evolution of Mattia Preti’s painting and again investigating his Stoicism with reference to his works. Other works featuring Boethius were investigated. Finally, the knight who commissioned the work, Frà Andrea di Giovanni (1643-1715) was researched through the archives of the National Library of Malta (NLM) and the Notarial Archives to gain some idea of his life and his philosophy together with his family history through literature searches. His extensive dispropriamento and his spoglio were analysed to learn details of his possessions, his paintings and to discern whether he like Preti followed Stoic philosophy. Methodology: This study explored Stoicism from Zeno of Citium to the Neo-Stoicism of Lipsius, referring to texts that di Giovanni and Preti may have read, and which were identified in the National Library of Malta. Preti’s works illustrated his classical education and his knowledge of philosophy through the ages. The study depicts his many works exhibiting Stoicism. Andrea di Giovanni appears to have had a distinguished career having fought in Crete. He became a commendatore and ambassador of the Order. He was buried in the church of St John of Malta in Messina. Unfortunately, although he had many books in his library there were no details to elucidate his interests, they only refer to being mainly history. His collection of paintings includes the suffering of Christ, martyrs including St. Andrew, then Lucretia, Orpheus, Diogenes and Samson is consistent with him following Stoic philosophy. Conclusions reached: This study has presented a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between Baroque painting and baroque philosophy, through a close study of the relationship between the artist, his patron and the philosophy they both lived and expressed. The study has also contributed to Preti Studies by means of an inter-disciplinary approach to research. The fact that di Giovanni’s painting of Boethius remained in in the Palace of the Grand Master supports the hypothesis that both Preti and di Giovanni were Stoics but also that Stoicism had a wider following by other knights. The work provides a model for observing the relationship of painting and philosophy in the 17th century that could be applied to other paintings. This thesis also supports the contention that the knights were not just warrior monks but erudite men.