Friedrich Bernard Christian Maassen
United Sees of Macerata and Tolentino
Vicariate Apostolic of Mackenzie
Marie-Edmé-Patrice-Maurice de MacMahon
Joseph-Anna-Marie de Moyria de Mailla
François-Pierre-Gonthier Maine de Biran
Françoise, Marquise de Maintenon
Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre
Marcellinus of Civezza, O.F.M.
Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament
Prefecture Apostolic of Mariana Islands
Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill
Sts. Maris, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum
Lucius Perpetuus Aurelianus Marius Maximus
Vicariate Apostolic of Marquesas Islands
Moral and Canonical Aspect of Marriage
Diocese of Marseilles (Massilia)
Vicariate Apostolic of the Marshall Islands
Diocese of Marsico Nuovo and Potenza
Luigi Ferdinando, Count de Marsigli
Missionaries of the Company of Mary
Servants of Mary (Order of Servites)
Society of Mary (Marist Fathers)
St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds of Jesus
Richard Angelus a S. Francisco Mason
Devises and Bequests for Masses (United States)
Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus
Caius Julius Verus Maximinus Thrax
Prefecture Apostolic of Mayotte, Nossi-Bé, and Comoro
Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod
Abbey and Congregation of Melk
Vicariate Apostolic of Méndez and Gualaquiza
Francisco Sarmiento de Mendoza
Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo
Frédéric-François-Xavier Ghislain de Mérode
Delegation Apostolic of Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, and Armenia
Metal-Work in the Service of the Church
Prince Klemens Lothar Wenzel von Metternich
Francis, Joseph, and Paul Mezger
Military Orders of St. Michael
Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola
Congregation of the Sisters of Misericorde
Prefecture Apostolic of Misocco and Calanca
Congregation of Priests of the Mission
Congregation of Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo
Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales of Annecy
Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle
Mission Indians (of California)
Catholic Indian Missions of Canada
Catholic Indian Missions of the United States
François-Napoléon-Marie Moigno
Diocese of Molfetta, Terlizzi, and Giovinazzo
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière
Principality and Diocese of Monaco
Canonical Erection of a Monastery
Monophysites and Monophysitism
Monothelitism and Monothelites
Montagnais Indians (Chippewayans)
Charles-Forbes-René, Comte de Montalembert
Marquis de Louis-Joseph Montcalm-Gozon
Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu
Anne, First Duke of Montmorency
Alexis-François Artaud de Montor
Antoine-Jean-Baptiste-Robert Auget, Baron de Montyon
Dioceses of Mostar and Markana-Trebinje
Feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary
Toribio de Benavente Motolinia
Congregations of Mount Calvary
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Karl Ernst, Freiherr von Moy de Sons
Johann Chrysostomus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
St. Clair Augustine Mulholland
Baron Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen
Archdiocese of Munich-Freising
An Italian painter, b. at Camerino, in the March of Ancona, 13 May, 1625, d. in Rome, 15 December, 1713. From very early years Maratta showed an extraordinary skill in design, and was sent by his patrons to Rome to study under Andrea Sacchi, with whom he remained for many years, and for the rest of his life regarded as his greatest friend and benefactor. After a while he returned to his own part of Italy, and then in 1650, in company with the governor of Ancona, Cardinal Albrizio, who had very much admired his talent, he came again to Rome, and was introduced to Alexander VII who at once gave him many commissions and eventually, at the request of Sacchi, the important one for a painting of Constantine destroying the idols for the Baptistery of the Lateran. This was one of his greatest works, and increased his popularity at the Vatican. In 1704 he was knighted by Clement XI, and given the Order of Christ, while in the same year he was created painter in ordinary by Louis XIV of France, who had seen his picture of Daphne and greatly admired it. It was during his residence in Rome that Maratta was styled Maratti by the Romans, and his name is frequently written in that form, although originally it was as we have given it. The painter was a member of the Academy of St. Luke in Rome, and was not only a skilful artist but extremely clever at cleaning and repairing frescoes, and was employed by Clement XI to carry out such work as was necessary for the Raphael frescoes in the Vatican. He was also a clever etcher, using the tool with much freedom and spirit.
His pictures are very numerous. There are several in the Louvre and others in Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Brussels, Rome, Florence, St. Petersburg, and in the National Gallery, Hampton Court, and at Devonshire House in England. As a portrait painter he takes high place. He was also a skilful architect, and responsible for the designs of several buildings. His religious pictures are marked by a certain strength and nobility, coupled with a gracious harmony. He was not so skilful in arranging drapery, and was a little, and was a little disposed to exaggerate the details and accessories, breaking in upon the general effect of his pictures, but this fault is less seen in his portraits than in his Madonna groups and religious compositions.
VASARI, Le Vite dei Pittori (Milanese ed., Florence, 1878, 1885); Allgemeines Kunstler-Lexizon (Frankfort, 1898); LANZI, Storia Pittorica della Italia (Bassano, 1806); DOMINICI, Vite dei Pittori (Naples, 1742); CONCA, Descrizione Odeporica della Spagna (Palma, 1793); PALOMINO DE CASTRO Y VELASCO, El Museo Pictorico y Escala (Madrid, 1715).
GEORGE CHARLES WILLIAMSON