Mattia Preti was an Italian painter born in Taverna, in the region of Calabria, Italy, in 1613. He died in Valletta, Malta, in 1699. He arrived in Rome in 1630 to join his brother. He was active in the northern Caravaggio movement, inspired by the neo-Venetian style. In the 1630s, Preti painted works such as the Triumph of Silenus and the Story of Moses. In Rome and on numerous trips to the peninsula in the 1640s, he perfected his technique with artists such as Testa, de Mola and Poussin. He then moved to Naples, where he was inspired by the artist Luca Giordano, to whom he owed his rapid brushstrokes, rough brushstrokes and Baroque taste. This style is evident in his paintings Festin de Balthazar and Saint Sebastian. Between 1660 and his death, Mattia Preti worked in Malta, where he was able to detach himself from all the new trends. The majority of his paintings can be found in Naples at the Capodimonte Museum, but also in museums in Rome and in a variety of museums around the world such as the Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio, the museums of Grenoble, Chambéry, Le Mans and Lyon and the Accademia Albertina in Turin. In Malta, Preti's works can also be found in private collections and in parish churches.