Italian school; c. 1600.

Italian school; c. 1600.
"Holy Family with St. Johnny".
Oil on copper.
It has slight flaws and restorations.
It has a label on the back of the Delegated Board of Seizure and Protection and Salvage of Artistic Treasures.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 22 x 27,5 cm; 36 x 41,5 cm (frame).

The model reproduces a composition attributed to Alessandro Allori, specifically the Sacra Famiglia con san Giovannino, preserved and documented in the catalog of the Fondazione Federico Zeri. The relationship with this prototype is evidence of the diffusion of Florentine late-Mannerist models and their survival in later collections and copies. The work comes from the collection of the Countess Widow of Adanero, in her palace on Santa Engracia Street in Madrid, and shows traces of an ancient inscription with later intervention, which may be traces of an original signature. It was formerly attributed to the Italian master, a circumstance that confirms the stylistic proximity with the repertoire of Allori and his environment.
The landscape in semi-darkness reinforces the recollected and devotional atmosphere. The composition depicts the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, the Infant Jesus and St. John the Baptist in a natural wooded setting. The Virgin, located in the foreground, holds the Child Jesus with a protective gesture, lying on a white cushion and foreshortened. The little St. John, identified by his attribute the reed cross with phylactery, points with his finger in a prophetic attitude, anticipating Christ's redemptive destiny. St. Joseph appears on the right, in a contemplative attitude, holding a basket with fruits and grapes, Eucharistic symbols and allusive to the future sacrifice.
The scene is organized by means of a triangular composition, which gives stability and balance to the whole. The light treatment, with soft chiaroscuros that model the faces and fabrics, emphasizes the volume of the figures and concentrates the attention on the Child Jesus, the spiritual and visual focus of the work. The palette combines warm tones, pinks, reds and ochers, with dark backgrounds that intensify the dramatic effect, characteristic of the transition from Mannerism to early Italian Baroque.
The painting is a representative example of Italian devotional production around 1600, probably intended for the private sphere. Its balanced composition, restrained expressiveness and symbolic richness place it within the iconographic tradition of the Holy Family, with a sensibility already oriented towards baroque approaches.