After Rubens, 19th century

After PETER PAUL RUBENS (Siegen, Germany, 1577 - Antwerp, 1640)
Spanish school of the 19th century.
"The Virgin and Child in garland of flowers".
Oil on panel.
It has slight damage to the frame.
Measurements: 60 x 40 cm; 77 x 58 x 7 cm (frame).

Nineteenth-century copy of the famous painting by Pedro Pablo Rubens in collaboration with Jan Brueghel de Velours, "The Virgin and Child surrounded by flowers and fruits" (ca. 1614-1618), one of the most representative compositions of the Flemish Baroque cabinet painting.

The work faithfully reproduces the dual structure of the original: in the center, a Virgin and Child with a strong Rubensian imprint, characterized by the softness of the flesh tones, the warm modeling and the intimate gesture between mother and child, accompanied by cherubs that underline the celestial character of the scene; surrounding this nucleus, an exuberant painted floral frame, inspired by the specialty of Jan Brueghel, with roses, tulips, anemones and other symbolic flowers arranged with refined ornamental sense.

The floral treatment, although less meticulous than in the Flemish original, preserves the symbolic and decorative intention, alluding to Marian purity and Paradise, while the central scene maintains the devotional and affective tone characteristic of the Baroque, reinterpreted here with a nineteenth-century sensibility, softer and more sentimental.

Executed in oil on panel, the work responds to the 19th century taste for copies of old masters, highly appreciated both in the private sphere and in devotional collections, and reflects the validity of the prestige of Rubens and Brueghel in the Spanish pictorial tradition. The composition, the chromatism and the balance between figure and ornament show a desire for fidelity to the original model, adapted to the resources and language of the time.