Circle of Luis de Morales "the divine".

Spanish School, Circle of LUIS DE MORALES The divine" (Badajoz, 1509 - Alcántara, 1586); second third of the sixteenth century.
"Virgin and Child".
Oil on panel.
It presents faults in the pictorial surface.
Measurements: 109 x 63 cm; 127 x 82 cm (frame).
Devotional painting that shows the Virgin enthroned, seated with solemnity and delicacy, holding the Child Jesus, who appears standing on one of her knees. The composition, of marked frontality and emotional restraint, follows the characteristic models of the circle of Luis de Morales "El Divino": oval and spiritualized faces, soft gestures, and a refined treatment of the flesh tones that transmits an intense interior devotion. The throne, of sober execution, is cut out in front of a landscape, a frequent resource in works related to Morales to emphasize the transcendent dimension of the scene.
Due to the aforementioned formal characteristics, this painting can be related to the circle of Luis de Morales, nicknamed the Divine by his first biographer, Antonio Palomino, because he painted religious subjects with great delicacy and subtlety. Luis de Morales is considered, together with El Greco, as one of the best Spanish painters of the second half of the 16th century. Although no documentary sources or evidence of his youth are preserved, Antonio Palomino makes him a disciple of the Flemish Pedro de Campaña, who lived in Seville between 1537 and 1563. This link is feasible due to the meticulousness and detail in the brushstroke characteristic of Divino, who in turn developed in his works landscapes of Flemish heritage. He traveled to Valencia to get acquainted with the novelties contributed by the Leonardesque Fernando Yáñez and Fernando de Llanos and the Raphaelesque Vicente and Juan Masip, where in turn he was able to get to know the Lombard tradition of Bernardino Luini and Cristoforo Solario. In this way, Luis de Morales became one of the key painters for the history of art due to the human types captured in his works. He extended his production to Portugal, especially to Évora and Elvas, cities near his hometown of Badajoz. In this city he settled in 1539, after having worked in Plasencia, a territory where artists and influences coming from Flanders and Castile were mixed, basic characteristics to understand Morales' painting, as well as the knowledge of artists such as Alonso Berruguete or Sebastiano del Piombo. From 1570 to 1570 is his most fruitful period due to the realization of numerous altarpieces, triptychs and isolated canvases, which had enormous diffusion due to the satisfaction of the religiosity of the moment, although the artist from Extremadura also demonstrates his erudite character in his canvases, as a result of the contact with enlightened clients such as the bishops of the diocese of Badajoz. Due to the enormous production and the continuous request for his iconographic themes, Morales was forced to maintain a large workshop in which his two sons, Cristóbal and Jerónimo, collaborated. His works are currently preserved in the most important collections around the world, including the Prado Museum. His presence in the latter has recently led the Spanish art gallery to dedicate a complete exhibition to him, curated by Leticia Ruiz, head of the Department of Spanish Renaissance Painting at the Prado Museum.