Spanish school; end of the 18th century- beginning of the 19th century.

Spanish school; end of the 18th century- beginning of the 19th century.
"Studies for the Child Virgin, St. Anne and St. Joachim, the Presentation of the Child in the Temple and St. Lawrence",
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 11.5 x 8 cm; 24 x 49 cm (frame).
Set consists of three small oil paintings on support whose technique indicates that it could be preparatory sketches. These compositions, of loose invoice and reduced format, seem to be conceived as rehearsals and light distribution more than as works destined to a finished presentation, which places them in the orbit of the habitual procedures in the court and academic workshops, in particular those related to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando.
From the stylistic point of view, the paintings show an agile, sketchy and vibrant brushstroke. This language is linked to the tradition of the late Baroque, still in force in the formation of artists such as Francisco Bayeu, but already sifted by an incipient neoclassical taste in compositional clarity and in the arrangement of the figures. The lighting, with strong Tenebrist roots, organizes the scenes through sharp hallmarks of light and shadow, focusing attention on the narrative nuclei and giving volume to the figures through touches of warm light on dark backgrounds.