Flemish school; second half of the 17th century.

Flemish school; second half of the 17th century.
"Holy Family".
Oil on copper.
Signed in the lower left area.
Measurements: 69 x 45 cm; 72 x 47 cm (frame).
Executed in oil on copper, characteristic support of the Flemish environment for its durability and for the smooth surface that allowed a meticulous finish, the composition evidences the high degree of technical refinement typical of this pictorial tradition.
The scene presents the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and the Child Jesus in an intimate and recollected atmosphere, reinforced by a carefully modulated lighting that directs the attention towards the main figures. The presence of the dove of the Holy Spirit, suspended between clouds and surrounded by a golden glow, introduces a theological dimension that links the domestic scene with the divine mystery, a common iconographic resource in Counter-Reformation painting.
From the stylistic point of view, the work shows unique features of the late-baroque Flemish school, such as the naturalism contained in the faces, the attention to detail in the tactile qualities of the fabrics and the subtle chromatic gradation that combines warm and dark tones to create spatial depth. Likewise, there is a synthesis between the Flemish tradition of detail inherited from the 16th century and the influence of the international Baroque, especially in the treatment of light and in the pyramidal arrangement of the figures, which brings balance and solemnity to the scene. Overall, the painting is part of a production intended for private devotion, in which emotional proximity and narrative clarity become fundamental vehicles for religious contemplation.