Carlo Ceresa Circle.

Circle of CARLO CERESA (Bergamo, 1609 - 1679).
"The levitation of Santo Dominico".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It presents restorations.
Measurements: 136 x 99 cm; 162 x 124 cm (frame).
The scene represents a religious scene with a Dominican saint, captured in full mystical ecstasy while levitating in front of a crucifix on the altar. The saint's body floats with surprising naturalism, suspended diagonally, which energizes the composition and visually directs the viewer towards the figure of the crucified Christ. The twisting of the body, the treatment of the folds of the white tunic and the black habit, and the dramatic gesture of the outstretched hands reveal a clear intention to emphasize the supernaturalness of the miracle without renouncing anatomical verism.
The figure of the protagonist is enveloped in a focal light that separates him from the architectural background, a typically baroque resource that reinforces his sacred character. At his feet, a group of Dominican friars contemplate the scene with astonishment, captured in different gestures of surprise, reverence and admiration. This gallery of human expressions introduces the viewer into the pathos of the scene, acting as witnesses and mediators of the prodigy.
From the stylistic point of view, the work is part of the late naturalism typical of the circle of Carlo Ceresa, a Lombard painter influenced by the Caravaggesque current and by the classicism of the Bolognese school. Although Ceresa is best known for his portrait work, his religious production shows a remarkable sensitivity to the narrative and expressive, which is transmitted here in the intensity of gesture, compositional clarity and chromatic sobriety.
Carlo Ceresa was a pupil and then assistant to the Milanese painter Daniele Crespi, whose style and vocabulary persisted in his work after the master's death in 1630. He was active in the Bergamo area and produced a large number of religious works characterized by great sobriety and a discreet approach combined with the vivid color of the Veneto school. He was also a skilled portraitist whose services were sought after by the city's noble families. The naturalism that pervades the depiction of his subjects recalls the work of Moroni and awaits Fra Galgario and Ceruti (Pitochetto).