Jan Brueghel II

JAN BRUEGHEL II (Antwerp, Belgium, 1601 - 1678)
"Holy Family and St. John".
Oil on oak panel. Without cradled.
It presents an excellent state of conservation.
Measurements: 42 x 59 cm; 64,5 x 82,5 cm (frame).
This work attributed to Jan Brueghel II stands as an example of the technical refinement and narrative delicacy that characterize the production of the Flemish master. Executed in oil on oak panel, the work unfolds an intimate yet expansive scene. The Virgin, seated at the foot of a large tree, holds the Child in a gesture of tenderness, while St. Joseph watches serenely and little St. John approaches reverently. Around them, a group of cherubs animates the scene, gathering flowers and playing in the foreground, reinforcing the atmosphere of paradisiacal harmony.
The landscape is one of the great protagonists of the composition. Brueghel's mastery is evident in the meticulous representation of the vegetation, which frames the sacred scene and opens towards a distant horizon where a Flemish village and a river populated by swans can be seen. The carefully modulated light guides the eye through the different layers of depth, creating an effect of continuity and serenity.
Particular attention should be paid to the treatment of the animals, whose meticulous naturalistic observation and orderly arrangement directly evoke the work "The Earthly Paradise" by Jan Brueghel the Younger, now in the Prado Museum. Dogs, birds, lambs and other domestic and wild animals participate in this idyllic vision, in which the natural world appears reconciled with the divine order.
The quality of this painting lies as much in the precision of its details as in its ability to integrate the human figure, nature and theological symbolism in a balanced and coherent composition. Jan Brueghel II, heir to the artistic lineage of his family, achieves here a work of great subtlety, which combines the rigor of the Flemish tradition with a poetic sensibility that invites silent contemplation.
Jan Pieter Brueghel, son of Jan Brueghel, was in fact an artist who specialized in flower painting, and collaborated with several figure painters of the time. He must have trained in the family workshop, and in 1645 he joined the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp as a master. Cornelis Schut was a painter, draughtsman and engraver, belonging to the generation before Brueghel. In fact, he joined the Antwerp guild in 1618, and his youthful work shows the influence of Abraham Janssens, who must have been his teacher. He then traveled to Italy, where he stayed for four years between 1624 and 1628. In Rome he worked for what would become his protector from then on, the collector Vincenzo Giustiniani, and in 1628 he worked in Florence as a designer of tapestry cartoons at the Fabbrica Medicea. During his Italian stay Schut was influenced by Guercino and Pietro da Cortona, as well as by the Baroque classicism of Reni and Domenichino. Back in Antwerp he collaborated with Rubens in works such as the ephemeral decorations for the reception of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria in 1635. On the other hand, his work was widely disseminated through engravings, some of which were made and published by himself. He is currently represented in major art galleries such as the Prado Museum, the Louvre or the Fine Arts Museums of Caen and Rennes.