Madrid School; XVII century.

Madrid School; XVII century.
"Christ as Salvator Mundi".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has a frame of the eighteenth century.
Measurements: 60 x 43 cm; 69 x 52 cm (frame).
This oil painting, framed within the Spanish school, shows Christ as "Salvator Mundi", an iconography that represents the Christological concept of Jesus Christ as universal savior, in relation to his role as judge in the Final Judgment and his character of Redeemer. It is characterized by presenting Christ raising his right hand as a sign of blessing, while holding with his left hand an orb symbolizing the universe, emphasizing the universal character of Christian doctrine and of Christ's redemptive act. As we see here, the most usual in this iconography is that Christ appears half-length in a strictly frontal position. The pictorial style of the work indicates that it is a work inscribed in the circle of Madrid Baroque painting, adopting a model of composition that comes from antiquity.
The Spanish Baroque is one of the most authentic and personal examples of our art, because its conception and its form of expression arose from the people and the deepest feelings that nested in it. The religious subject is, therefore, the preferred theme of Spanish painting and sculpture of this period, which starts in the first decades of the 17th century with a priority interest in capturing the natural, to progressively intensify throughout the century the expression of expressive values, which is achieved through the movement and variety of gestures, the use of light resources and the representation of moods and feelings.