MATTEO LOVES (Active in Cento and Bologna between 1625 and 1647).

MATTEO LOVES (Active in Cento and Bologna between 1625 and 1647).
"St. John the Baptist," ca. 1630-1645.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Provenance: Antonio Vives Escudero collection (Madrid-Mahón, 1859-1925) by descendants, preserved in the same family collection until today.
Work preserved in a historical collection since the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, out of the market for generations.
Measurements: 60 x 51 cm.
We thank Professor Daniele Benati and Professor Massimo Pulini for their invaluable help in the attribution.

The present work constitutes an addition of notable interest to the catalog of Matteo Loves, one of the most personal disciples of Guercino's circle and a key figure in the diffusion of the baroque language of the school of Cento. Trained in the circle of the master, Loves developed a painting of intense psychological presence, luminous modeling and naturalistic sensitivity, features that here are particularly clear in the face of the young St. John the Baptist, built through an enveloping light that softens the volumes and concentrates the devotional emotion in the gaze.

The painting represents the Baptist at a young age, wrapped in the characteristic red cloak and accompanied by the cruciferous rod with phylactery, elements that identify the forerunner of Christ. Unlike the infantile or fully adult versions of the saint, this work is situated in an intermediate iconographic moment, of great refinement: the artist avoids both the infantile sweetness and the ascetic severity of maturity, opting for an image of idealized beauty, serene and deeply introspective. The bust, slightly turned, the gesture of the hand on the chest and the frontality of the gaze build a direct, almost portrait-like presence that transcends the mere hagiographic representation.

The work fits naturally into the formal universe of Guercino and his workshop, especially in the way it combines naturalism, classical idealization and emotional depth. However, it is not a simple derivation of Guercino's models: Loves brings a sensibility of his own, recognizable in the oval delicacy of the face, the density of the hair, the expressive restraint and the tactile quality of the chiaroscuro. These qualities bring it close to other known works by the artist, among them the "Alfonso III d'Este in Capuchin habit", preserved in the Galleria Estense in Modena, a painting dated 1635 and linked to the courtly atmosphere of the Este.
The landscape background, barely sketched and of great atmospheric subtlety, amplifies the spiritual dimension of the scene. The centralized architecture that can be seen in the distance, together with the small figures integrated into the landscape, introduces a narrative depth that balances the monumentality of the bust. This combination of close figure and open space responds to the emilian baroque taste for images of private devotion, destined to an intimate contemplation but loaded with compositional nobility.

The origin of the work acquires special relevance. Antonio Vives Escudero was an archaeologist, numismatist, professor and member of the Royal Academy of History; he assembled a wide-ranging collection, with archaeological, numismatic, oriental, Egyptian, Greek, ceramic, cartographic and artistic pieces, part of which later entered the Museum of Menorca. The fact that this canvas belongs to his collection places the work in one of the most cultured Spanish collecting contexts of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its permanence out of the market for generations adds an additional value of rarity, commercial freshness and historical traceability, aspects especially appreciated in the international collecting of antique painting.

Matteo Loves, probably born in Cologne into a family of English origin, is documented in Cento since 1625, where he came into contact with Guercino and deeply assimilated his language of hallmarks, expressive naturalism and emotional monumentality. In recent years his figure has been the subject of renewed critical attention, precisely because of his singular role as an artist of Nordic origin integrated into the heart of the Emilian Baroque. Works by him are preserved in Italian institutions of reference, including the Galleria Estense in Modena and the Pinacoteca Civica in Cento, confirming his relevance within the Guercinesque circle.