Portrait of a Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, Martin de Redin

Mattia Preti · c. 1660

Medium

Oil on canvas

Original size

92.1 × 73.3 cm (36 1/4 × 28 7/8 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Baroque

Portrait of a Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, Martin de Redin announces its subject with quiet authority — the sitter's armour, red mantle, and steady gaze projecting the weight of command rather than ceremony. Mattia Preti, born in Calabria in 1613, spent decades at the heart of Baroque Europe before settling permanently in Malta under the patronage of the Order itself. A Knight of Malta by honour, he understood his subjects from the inside, and it shows: his portraits carry a psychological directness that goes beyond official record. His handling of light — warm, raking, indebted to Caravaggio yet distinctly his own — models form with remarkable economy, giving the flesh and metal equal life. Preti painted several portraits of Grand Masters during his long residence in Valletta, and this work, dating to around 1660, coincides almost exactly with de Redin's brief tenure as Grand Master, which ended with his death that same year. Our hand-painted oil reproduction is made to the dimensions and pigment palette of the original held at the Art Institute of Chicago, preserving the layered depth and tonal richness that digital prints cannot replicate.