Italian school; second half of the 17th century.

Italian school; second half of the seventeenth century.
"Classical scene".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Presents restorations.
Measurements: 65 x 130 cm.
Landscape scene in which develops a dark landscape populated by several groups of figures, all of them located in the foreground. In the left zone of the composition the protagonist of the scene can be appreciated, who stands out for his shining crown. Attribute that designates its protagonism in the development of the scene. This character is accompanied by another one of a more somber style, dressed in a dark cloak and leaning on the shovel in his hand. Next to them, in the right zone, two personages remain fallen on the ground, barely appreciable due to the damages that the work presents. Finally, we can observe another group formed by three characters, which by their attitudes are the most dynamic of the scene, and a face that appears between the two mentioned protagonists. These two are dressed in armor and with their weapons. One of them, crowned, points towards the horizon as if indicating the route they should follow. Despite the obscurity of the scene, and the apparent lack of attributes that could define the subject matter of the image, it is possible that it is a scene taken from the Holy Scriptures.
Baroque painting is one of the most authentic and personal examples of our art, because its conception and form of expression arose from the people and the deepest feelings that nestled in it. With the economy of the State broken, the nobility in decline and the high clergy burdened with heavy taxes, it was the monasteries, the parishes and the confraternities of clerics and laymen who promoted its development, and the works were sometimes financed by popular subscription. Painting was thus forced to capture the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when the Counter-Reformation doctrine demanded from art a realistic language so that the faithful would understand and identify with what was represented, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content to increase the fervor and devotion of the people. The religious subject is, therefore, the theme.