Maffei, FRANCESCO, Italian painter, b. at Vicenza; d. at Padua, 1660. His influence upon the art of his own and later times has not been sufficient to attach much interest to the details of his life. His celebrity is due to the large number of generally pleasing pictures by him, still to be seen in the churches of his native Vicenza and many towns of Lombardy. He was a pupil of Peranda, but modeled his work upon that of Veronese, which shows itself in a certain opulence of coloring. Unfortunately his work has been very ill preserved, whether as the result of hurried execution, or of faulty methods in the mixing of his pigments. This is particularly apparent in his “Paradise” in the church of San Francesco at Padua. His “St. Anne” at San Michele, Vicenza, is probably one of the best expressions of his poetical fancy and color-sense. He was among those painters of his period who gave an impetus to the still young art of engraving by copying his own work in that medium.
E. MACPHERSON