Workshop Of Luis De Morales (1509-1586), Christ With The Reed.

Workshop of LUIS DE MORALES (Badajoz, 1509 - Alcántara, 1586). "Ecce Homo", circa 1570. Oil on panel. Provenance: Private collection in Barcelona. Panel size 68 x 50 cm. Luis de Morales, nicknamed "El Divino" during his lifetime, created a prolific painting workshop commissioned by the Spanish nobility of the 16th century. His models, predefined and fixed in masterful compositions that can be found particularly in the Prado Museum, were the subject of numerous variations by his workshop in order to satisfy the private commission, which increasingly demanded these devotional panels of varying sizes. The theme of Christ with the Reed, or more precisely the Ecce Homo, enjoyed great popularity at the end of the 15th century, thanks in part to the Devotio Moderna and in the 16th century, developed and spread by various painters, including Andrea Solario and his famous Christ with the Reed. Our work, of great quality, is typical of the productions of the workshop of the "Divino". We find the composition of Christ with the Reed preserved in the Prado, with sometimes slight variations in the position. The fine light highlights in the hair and beard that trace the undulations, the light sfumato, the painful intensity of Christ's gaze, and the incisions made in the preparation before painting (particularly on each side of the reed), are characteristic of the productions of the workshop of Morales and of the master himself. Christ, half-length, "Ecce Homo", is presented to the viewer in his heroic nudity, already holding the reed, scepter which prefigures his divine royalty which he is preparing to assume after his death. Excellent state of conservation: healthy and clean pictorial layer, very beautiful material, excellent flatness of the panel.