Italian school, ca. 1700.

Italian school, ca. 1700.
"Young musicians".
Oil on canvas.
It has some damage in the golden frame.
Measurements: 73 x 58 cm; 108 x 93 cm (frame).

A young woman of angelic countenance plays a stringed instrument while a boy plays the flute with his tender swollen cheeks, and a third personage whispers confidences to the ear of the young woman. It is a representation of closed framing, in which the three bodies together seem to take sculptural relief thanks to a masterful handling of light. Different Italian traditions converge. On the one hand, the Venetian tradition endows the turgid flesh tones with sensorial qualities. On the other hand, the classicist current of the Italian Baroque influences the choice of warm and earthy tones that imbue the figures with a timeless beauty. The three faces remain oblivious to our gaze, enveloped in a musical reverie. Golden and toasted tresses frame them. The large almond-shaped eyes harmonize with the fleshy lips and straight noses of Greek inspiration. The background enhances and models the bodies and features. The expressiveness shifts to the hands with their bouncing fingers. The cotton shirt, with its soft pleats, gathers and diffuses the warm light.