Oil On Canvas "saint John The Baptist Child" Italy 17th Century

Oil on canvas depicting Saint John the Baptist as a child dressed in a red drape with delicate folds highlighted by a white fur border. Saint John the Baptist is seated on a blue velvet cushion embroidered with golden pompoms, holding in one hand his staff topped with a white ribbon bearing inscriptions and in the other a scallop shell serving as a receptacle for a trickle of water gushing from the top of the painting, all against a wooded background at nightfall. This oil on canvas is presented in an 18th century arched frame in carved and gilded wood in very good condition (formerly regilded, relined in the 19th century). The lower crosspiece of the frame bears an old inscription referring to Charles Louis Du Portal as the former owner of the painting. Italian School of the 17th century painted with remarkable dexterity.