Born: 6 December 1645, Malta
Died: 18 March 1703
Country most active: Malta
Also known as: NA
Maltese artist and Carmelite nun Suor Maria de Dominici was born into a family of artists and studied with painter and sculptor Mattia Preti as a teenager. At the time, he was painting and sculpting the interior of St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, to which she contributed. In particular, she is documented as working on the series of paintings that tell the story of St John the Baptist that decorate the vaults, Preti’s best known work. Giovannantonio Ciantar wrote that “under his direction she worked well and as he was painting the ceiling of the Church of St John he allowed her to paint some of the female figures; in doing this she succeeded almost more felicitously than the master.”
As a tertiary nun, she could live outside the convent as well as away from her family. She left Malta in 1682, likely with Preti and his entourage, and with his support, eventually began her own studio in Rome, taking sculpture and painting commissions. She also lived with a woman companion during this time.
Her nephew, Bernardo de Dominici, would grow up to become an art historian who referenced his aunt in his work, Vite dei pittori, scultori ed architetti napoletani, (Lives of the Neapolitan Painters, Sculptors, and Architects).