Carlo Preda Biography
Carlo Preda, Milan, 1651/52-1729. Painter, one of the most original voices of the Milanese context of his time and one of the forerunners of the Lombard baroque season. His first teacher was his uncle, the painter Federico Bianchi; his first known work, the Immaculate and saints in S. Giorgio al Palazzo in Milan, dates back to 1680, then his art took a significant turn linked to his activity in the Casale Monferrato area, as is evident in the lighter compositional style and in the lighter palette than the Assumption and Saints of Terruggia (1688), and the Communion of a Capuchin prelate (1690, Civic Museum of Casale Monferrato). In the early nineties, probably thanks to the influence of artists such as Domenico Piola, Bartolomeo Guidobono and Gregorio De Ferrari, exponents of the late Genoese Baroque, Carlo Preda achieved a softer painting, of neo-Correggesque origin, with bright hues and refined chromatic combinations, which will become his stylistic signature. From these years the canvases for the Church of S. Maria delle Grazie in Bellinzona, the Stories of St. Catherine (Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco, Milan), the Virgin and Child and St. Paul (Piacenza, private collection). Between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century he received numerous commissions: the Magdalene communicated by St. Maximin, the Miracle of the boy who fell into the furnace (cycle of the Holy Sacrament in the Cathedral of Milan, now in the Diocesan Museum), the two Stories of St. John the Baptist in the paintings on the life of the saint in the eponymous church of Busto Arsizio. Alongside the ecclesiastical canvases, he has a notable production of other works: Jacob at the well (private collection), Ruth and Booz (Verona, Galleria Morgante), Allegory of sculpture (Merate, Leopoldo Mandic Hospital). In 1708 he created the altarpiece for the Sanctuary of Caravaggio, and the large picture with the Sermon of the Baptist, part of the Stories of the Saint in Melegnano; in the works after the first decade of the century the figures take on more marked features, the drapery is more rigid and engraved, aspects that will be a constant in his mature production. Also known as an art expert, in 1715 the painter drew up the inventory of Giovan Pietro Orrigoni's collection.
