School of Parma; XVII century.

School of Parma; XVII century.
"Madonna".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 86 x 72 cm.
The work represents the Virgin in a half bust format with her head gently bent and her gaze lowered in an attitude of recollection. The face of delicate features is modeled by means of very soft tonal transitions without marked edges which confers to the figure a soft and almost ethereal presence The treatment of the flesh is warm and luminous and reveals a special interest for the sfumato and for the chromatic gradation subordinating the drawing to the color and to the light The palette dominated by ochers and golds, which gives the figure a soft and almost ethereal presence The palette dominated by ochers and golds, which gives the figure a soft and almost ethereal presence The palette is dominated by ochers and golds. palette dominated by deep green golden ochres and reddish touches contributes to create an enveloping and serene atmosphere far from the most intense baroque dramatism, while the neutral dark background without spatial references reinforces the introspective character of the image and concentrates the attention on the meditative expression of the face.
From the stylistic point of view, the painting is fully in the tradition of the School of Parma, direct heir of the language of Correggio, whose influence continued throughout the 17th century This heritage is manifested in the search for an idealized beauty in the extreme softness of the modeling, in the taste for enveloping forms and in a spirituality expressed through inner emotion rather than theatrical gesture In contrast to Caravaggio's naturalism and the strongly dramatic Roman Baroque, the Parmesan school maintained a lyrical sensibility based on the predominance of color over drawing, on the delicacy of light transitions and on an affective religiosity destined for private contemplation.