Marchese Niccolò Maria Pallavicini guided to the Temple of Virtù by Apollo with a Self-portrait...

Carlo Maratta (Camerano 1625 – Rome 1713). Oil painting on canvas, Marchese Niccolò Maria Pallavicini guided to the Temple of Virtù by Apollo, with a self-portrait of the artist by Carlo Maratta (Camerano 1625 - Rome 1713), the painting is signed and dated on the back of the canvas held by the artist, in large letters, above stretcher: CM; and below stretcher: 1705. Niccolò Maria Pallavicini (1650-1714), a celebrated patron of the arts, stands before the artist, Carlo Maratta, and Apollo, the central figure, whose left hand is raised pointing to the Temple of Virtue, on top of a hill in the background right. The Marchese stands on the left, in a heroic red robe receiving an apotheosis. Above him, an angel or Glory hovers with a laurel branch in his right hand and a pipe in his left. The artist sits in front of a canvas, on the right, with his paint brush in his right hand. He is wearing blue robes and the Papal Order of Christ cross around his neck. Behind the artist are nude figures, the Three Graces. In the central background, the figure of Pallas is instructing Fame to inscribe the Marchese's character in letters of gold on her shield: NICOLAVS/MARIA/MARCHIO/ PALLAVICINI/IAN. Stourhead, Wiltshire (Accredited Museum)