Orazio Gentileschi School

School of ORAZIO GENTILESCHI (Pisa; 1563-London; 1639).
"Madonna of the milk".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has frame of the XIX century.
Measurements: 45,5 x 36,5 cm; 55 x 45 cm (frame).
This Virgin of the milk is inscribed in the artistic orbit of Orazio Gentileschi, one of the most refined interpreters of the caravaggista naturalism in Italy and in the European courts of the first Baroque. The composition is based on an iconography of deep devotional tradition: the Virgin Mary breastfeeding the Child Jesus, an image that emphasizes both the humanity of Christ and the intimate and maternal dimension of Mary. The scene, conceived in a reduced format and of an intimate character, responds to the models spread in Rome in the first decades of the 17th century.
Orazio Lomi Gentileschi, born in Tuscany and trained in the Roman mannerist environment, evolved towards a naturalism influenced by Caravaggio after the turn of the century. In Rome he collaborated with Agostino Tassi in important decorative undertakings, such as the Palazzo Rospigliosi and probably the Palazzo del Quirinal. His style, however, was always distinguished by a linear elegance and compositional purity inherited from Tuscan mannerism, visible in the restrained grace of his figures and in the refinement of the textile qualities. After receiving commissions in Fabriano and Genoa, Gentileschi moved to Paris in the service of Maria de' Medici, where he produced, among other works, an allegory for the Luxembourg Palace, now in the Louvre Museum. In 1626 he went to England under the protection of Jorge Villiers, becoming one of the favorite painters of Henrietta Maria of France. For the queen he executed, among other works, the paintings of the ceiling of the Queen's House. His English period is characterized by a greater decorative sophistication and a clearer and more aristocratic chromatism.