Spanish school; XIX century.

Spanish school; XIX century.
"Dead Christ".
Oil on panel.
Measurements: 32 x 25 cm; 52 x 45 cm (frame).
The choice of the isolated bust, with closed eyes and crown of thorns, eliminates any narrative reference to focus all attention on the restrained expression of the face, an approach very characteristic of Spanish nineteenth-century religiosity.
From the stylistic point of view, the work is articulated by means of a loose and expressive brushstroke, preserving an academicist taste. The neutral background, deliberately undefined, acts as a plastic and spiritual resource: it annuls space, suspends time and reinforces the meditative character of the image.
Iconographically, this work responds to a tradition rooted in Spain, linked to both painting and processional sculpture, but here reinterpreted with a freer and more contemporary pictorial language.