Italian school; second half of the 17th century.

Italian school; second half of the seventeenth century.
"Saint Philomena".
Oil on canvas.
Presents restorations.
It has a frame of the seventeenth century.
Measurements: 69 x 88 cm; 81 x 98 cm (frame).
This painting, of oval format and attributed to the Italian school of the second half of the XVII century, represents a young martyr identifiable as Santa Filomena, devotional figure whose iconography began to consolidate in this time after the discovery of her supposed relics in the catacombs of Rome. The saint appears with a long bust, her torso naked in a gesture of vulnerability and surrender, her hands tied in front of her and an arrow stuck in her right arm, an unmistakable symbol of her martyrdom. His face, of idealized beauty, combines serenity and contained pain, directing an elevated gaze that suggests spiritual communion with the transcendent. The warm palette, dominated by blues, pinks and faint golden glows, and the vaporous treatment of the flesh reveal a refined technique and a mastery of chiaroscuro inherited from Caravaggism, but already softened by the lyrical ideals of the full Italian Baroque. The anatomical modeling, the subtleties of the incarnation and the delicacy of the hair, treated with meticulous sensitivity, speak of a work of remarkable artistic quality and strong emotional charge, which invites both aesthetic contemplation and devotional reflection. The choice of the oval format reinforces the intimacy of the scene, accentuating the centrality of the sacred figure and her role as intercessor and symbol of purity and incorruptible faith.