Keith Sciberras’s recent research on Baroque art has culminated in an exhibition titled Francesco Noletti: The Grand Roman Baroque Still-life. The exhibition was set up by the University of Malta’s Department of History of Art and it focuses on the study of one particular artist and his oeuvre... a first not only for Malta, but also within the international context.

The artist is Francesco Noletti (c.1611-1654), a 17th-century Baroque painter known as il Maltese, whose life and work had been wrongly attributed in the past to the conjured up name of Francesco Fieravino.

The connection with the name of Fieravino to Noletti was discovered through a posthumous portrait of the artist with palette and brush in hand and an easel painting of a carpet still-life in the background found in the University’s Valletta Campus collection.

The main features of each of Noletti’s paintings are luxurious carpets that provide the theatricality desired in Baroque works of art

It was Sciberras who associated this man by the name of Noletti with the Fieravino of more recent records. Through Sciberras’s discovery, Noletti emerged from archival obscurity, which meant that his unsigned paintings could be re-attributed to the Maltese artist. Noletti’s portfolio now boasts some 40 different pictures.

Little is known about the artist’s artistic formation in Malta, or his exact year of birth, but some details are certain. That he had an extraordinary talent is one, together with the fact that, despite the opportunities made available to local 17th-century artists by the Knights of the Order of St John, Noletti was not satisfied with local commissions.

The painter, consequently, left the island in the mid-1630s and ventured to Rome. Rome was, at the time, a hub of artistic activity, replete with patrons of consequence who were eager to commission and acquire new works of art from the best available talent.

Despite the competition that Noletti faced in Rome, he successfully emerged as the best artist in a specific genre of Baroque painting... that of the carpet still-life. This genre of painting was, in fact, popularised in Rome by Noletti himself.

This was an age where still-life painting was no longer considered to be one of the minor arts, and the sheer scale of Noletti’s own compositions, viewable in this exhibition, stand testimony to the high regard this genre of painting was held in. Still-life painting was no longer at the bottom of the hierarchy of genres.

The main features of each of Noletti’s paintings are luxurious carpets that provide the theatricality desired in Baroque works of art. Noletti appears to have had his own collection of carpets with varied designs that he used varyingly in his compositions. In such Baroque carpet still-lifes, rugs are accompanied by various props, such as fruit and armour.

Noletti, in fact, repeated the same composition, albeit not exactly identical, in two works viewable in the exhibition, titled Still-life with a carpet, flowers, fruit and dead game.

All of Noletti’s six paintings that featured in this exhibition belong to private collectors and which have never before been exhibited to the public.

Noletti’s paintings are also housed in major collections around the world, but this is the first time that a number of his works have been shown together. This makes this exhibition a rare occasion in which several of his paintings will hang alongside each other, making this a unique opportunity to appreciate this master’s talent.

Among the highlights on exhibit was a striking Still-life with a cushion and candied fruit on an embroidered velvet drape, and the large Allegory of Wealth that features three figures alongside the carpet, armour and such.

This was an age where still-life painting was no longer considered to be one of the minor arts, and the sheer scale of Noletti’s own compositions, viewable in this exhibition, stands testimony to the high regard this genre of painting was held in

The exhibition was not restricted to works by Noletti’s hand. Rather, it also included works by anonymous followers of the artist who worked in the same Baroque tradition, as well as works by known younger artists who must have been influenced by Noletti’s style.

Among these are Antonio Tibaldi, Giovanni Domenico Valentini and Giovanni Paolo Castelli. The result is that the exhibition not only highlights Noletti’s contribution, but also evaluates the influence he exerted on Baroque still-life painting in Rome.

The portrayal of oriental carpets had already reached a peak in the second quarter of the 16th century, but it was a development that started in the 15th century.

In fact, eastern carpets frequently featured in Italian Renaissance paintings. Rugs were a common mode of interior decoration in Italian domestic interiors from the early 15th century, and were largely used to cover furniture. Their inclusion would have added a touch of elegance, refinement and sophistication to a painting that would, as a result, inevitably be associated with the donor. This was still very much the case in the 17th century.

Cinquecento artists such as Lorenzo Lotto and Sebastiano del Piombo are particularly associated with such paintings and they have certain types of rugs named after them because of their preponderance to portraying them in their paintings.

The Noletti exhibition was housed in the newly-restored halls of the upper floor of the Valletta campus, where lighting and other curatorial concerns were adequately taken into consideration. This, together with the fascinating paintings on display, delivered a special experience to all visitors.

One can only imagine what these paintings must have looked like, adorning the homes of wealthy Roman 17th-century nobles, alongside those by big names in the history of art.