Spanish school of the XVII century.

Spanish school of the XVII century.
"Virgin and Child.
Oil on panel.
Measurements: 52 x 39 cm; 67,5 x 54 cm (frame).

Devotional table, baroque exponent of Spanish school. It presents a scene of great intimacy and tenderness between the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus, characterized by its collected atmosphere and its emotional charge. The composition focuses on a close-up of both figures, eliminating any narrative background to concentrate the viewer's attention on the emotional bond between mother and child. Mary's face, of serene beauty, leans delicately towards the sleeping child. The lowered gaze conveys love, but also premonition, a common feature in the iconography of the period. The artist employs a tenebrist technique, characteristic of the Baroque and especially prominent in the Spanish school.

The element of greatest technical virtuosity is the transparent veil that covers the Virgin's head. The painter has achieved an effect of subtlety, allowing the contours of Mary's hair and forehead to be seen through the fine fabric. The way the Virgin holds it with the index and middle fingers of her right hand is a gesture of elegance and delicacy.