Mattia Preti

Mattia Preti was born in the town of Taverna in the Southern Italian region of Calabria. He began his education in Rome where his early canvas works reflect the style of Caravaggio. He worked in Naples between 1653 and 1660. He moved to Malta in 1661 where he spent the remainder of his life, receiving numerous church commissions, most notably the painting of the ceiling of St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta. Preti was known as Il Cavalier Calabrese (the Calabrian Knight) after appointment as a Knight of the Order of St John in 1660.