Italian school; XVI century

Italian school; last quarter of the 16th century.
"Ecce homo",
Oil on copper.
It has slight restorations.
It has a frame of the eighteenth century with damage.
Measurements: 29 x 24 cm; 31 x 31 cm (frame).
Due to its technique, this beautiful painting faithfully conforms to the canons of advanced mannerism, where intellectual concepts and artistic virtuosity were emphasized, based on "la maniera" of the three Italian masters par excellence: Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo. Thus, in this beautiful Ecce Homo we can perfectly observe the delicacy of the sfumato that manages to subtly blur the contours, the artificial use of light, the expressive languor... In short, features in which the artist has opted for "imitating" the art of the previous generation rather than for the rigorous search for naturalism. Experts like Freedberg affirm that Mannerism is a cultured artistic movement, of great intellectual content, since the artist expected that his public would realize what his artistic references were. Therefore, we are talking about a very refined painting, intended exclusively for courtly and intellectual circles. As we can see in this work, Mannerism combines an exaggerated elegance with exquisite attention to textures and details in general: special mention should be made of the delicacy of our artist when depicting the hair of the beard, the glaze of the eyes, the porcelain character of the skin, the velvety mantle...
Another very modern aspect of this painting is the point of view, which brings the viewer to a close-up of the expressive face of Christ, leaving hardly any "air" around him, which, in a compositional display of the artist, affects the great emotional content of the work. We observe the same resource in works of the main Mannerist masters such as the "Susanna and the old men" by Alessandro Allori (1535 - 1607) that brings the viewer so close to the subjects that one can almost feel like a third old man leering at the scene. In addition to the aforementioned Allori, other artists such as Agnolo Bronzino, Giorgio Vasari or Federico Barrocci exemplify this advanced mannerism that lasts from around 1530 to 1580. Undoubtedly, the virtuoso painter of this "Ecce Homo" has observed the work of these artists as their influence is evident when enjoying their refined technique. Regarding the theme, it is inevitable to link it to the context of the Counter-Reformation, in which the threat of the advance of Protestantism. At the end of the 16th century - beginning of the 17th century, a redirection of the secular, mythological and allegorical themes of the first Renaissance towards a more rigorous religiosity was imposed.