Roman School, 17th Century, Madonna And Child

Roman school, 17th century

Madonna and Child

Oil on copper, cm 15 x 11

With frame, cm 26 x 22

The small copper exposed here represents the Madonna and Child on a dark but gently illuminated by a sacred light that emanates from the two protagonists in the foreground. The choice of light, the cut-and-shine of the Virgin, the light tones just contrasted by a pleasant and non-intrusive chiaroscuro and the pose of the two characters recall the seventeenth-century examples of such subject from the Roman school. The classicism in the setting of the figures and poses interacts with the wisely measured use of light, mindful of the caravaggeschi examples but rendered in a sweeter and enveloping way instead of contrastive and impetuous. The sweetness of the sleeping Child on his lap, the delicate grip of the Virgin whose gaze is directed upwards, are painted with masterful precision on the copper support, which gives more fluidity to the brush strokes and a sharper and more glossy intensity to the light colors of the drapes.