Follower of Anton Van Dyck

Follower of ANTON VAN DYCK, possibly Italian school; XVIII century.
"The healing of the paralytic".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has a frame of the nineteenth century.
Measurements: 106 x 119 cm; 125 x 137,5 cm (frame).
This work is directly inspired by the famous model attributed to Van Dyck preserved in the Royal Collection Trust (RCIN 405325). The scene represents one of the most theologically charged Gospel episodes, in which Christ, through gesture and word, restores a sick man, surrounded by figures who react with astonishment, faith or skepticism.
From the compositional point of view, the work reveals a clear dependence on Van Dyck's narrative and scenic language, with a dynamic arrangement of the characters and an expressive use of space that leads the eye towards the central figure of Christ. The technical quality of the canvas is remarkable: the treatment of the flesh tones is warm and nuanced, the volumes are constructed through soft but effective hallmarks of light, and the folds of the vestments show a loose and confident brushstroke, in keeping with 18th century tastes.
Overall, this work is an eloquent example of the survival of the Vandyckian model in Italy, where it was reinterpreted with freedom and technical solvency. Anton van Dyck began his artistic training in 1609 with Hendrick van Balen and, after collaborating with Jordaens, worked between 1617 and 1620 in the workshop of Rubens, who considered him his best disciple. In 1620 he traveled for the first time to England in the service of James I, where he began to focus on portraiture. Between 1621 and 1627 he completed his artistic education in Italy, deeply influenced by Bolognese painting and especially by Titian, a period in which he consolidated his mature style. On his return to London in 1629, he was appointed court painter to Charles I, who considered him heir to the Titian spirit. After Rubens' death in 1640, he returned briefly to Antwerp, then to Paris and finally returned to London, where he died shortly afterwards. His work is now in the world's major museums, such as the Louvre, the Prado, the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, the National Gallery, the Hermitage and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.