Francesco Baratta the elder (c. 1590–1666) was an Italian sculptor of the Baroque period.
He was born in Massa di Carrara, and moved to Rome to work under Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
The statue of the Rio della Plata in the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in Piazza Navona is attributed to Francesco.
He completed a number of statues of Hercules, Lucrezia, and Cleopatra for the royal gallery of Dresden.
Passeri describes him as imprudent and unruly in drinking and smoking, living without rules.