Attributed to Abraham Brueghel and Nicola Viso

Attributed to ABRAHAM BRUEGHEL (Antwerp, 1631 - 1690) and NICOLA VISO (act.1724-1742); Naples, late 17th century.
"The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple".
Oil on copper.
It has a frame with old molding.
Measurements: 46.5 x 37 cm; 60 x 56 cm (frame).
The composition presents in its center the episode of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, surrounded by a lavish border of fruits and flowers that acts simultaneously as an ornamental frame and as a symbolic vehicle of abundance, fertility and divine grace. The central scene represents the moment when the young Mary is led to the Temple of Jerusalem, accompanied by her parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne. The staggered arrangement of the figures, the classical architecture of the background and the delicate gradation of light place the episode in a solemn and devotional atmosphere. The elegance of the gestures, the softness of the flesh tones and the gentle character of the figures are fully in keeping with the language of late-baroque Neapolitan painting.
However, the real visual protagonist of the work is the spectacular garland that surrounds the scene. The meticulousness in the representation of the textures, the brilliance of the surfaces and the technical virtuosity reveal the hand of a still life specialist belonging to the tradition inaugurated by the Brueghel family. The composition finds close parallels in various garlands preserved in European collections and associated with Abraham Brueghel, as attested by the archives of the Foundazione Zeri, particularly those made in Rome and Naples during the last decades of the seventeenth century.
The very structure of the work responds to a collaborative model very frequent in Abraham Brueghel's production. The Flemish painter was accustomed to teaming up with figure specialists to create complex compositions in which he executed the fruits, flowers and ornamental elements, while other artists executed the narrative or religious scenes in the center. His documented collaborators include prominent Italian masters such as Carlo Maratta, Giovanni Battista Gaulli and Giacinto Brandi. This practice allowed the creation of some of the most sophisticated works of the Roman and Neapolitan Baroque.
In this context the figure of Nicola Viso, a painter active in Naples during the first half of the 18th century and heir to the Neapolitan decorative tradition developed around the great still life specialists, acquires particular relevance. The shared attribution suggests the continuity of these collaborative models within the Neapolitan artistic environment, where the influence of Abraham Brueghel remained alive for decades. It is likely that Viso intervened in the execution of the central scene or that he developed a composition inspired by prototypes created by the Flemish master and his circle, thus prolonging an artistic formula that enjoyed enormous acceptance among the aristocratic and ecclesiastical clientele.