Italian school, ca. 1700

Italian school, ca. 1700.
"Madonna and Child".
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 62 x 60 cm.

In this canvas we see a devotional work of great beauty and emotion, classic in its conception and enriched by a warm and harmonious illumination. The artist presents us with a settled and balanced composition, clearly classical, based on a pyramidal scheme whose summit is the head of Mary. The figures are highlighted against a neutral, dark background, which enhances their physical presence, their corporeality. Likewise, they are vividly illuminated by a direct and uniform light, more nuanced in Mary's face, delicately modeled by the soft effects of lights and half shadows. Mary appears half-length, with a blue mantle, a color allusive to the concepts of truth and eternity that will be frequent in Marian representations. With her two arms she gathers the Child, who sleeps peacefully in her lap.