16th-17th century school, Christ Blessing

School of the 16th-17th century

Christ Blessing

Oil on canvas, 58 x 69 cm

With frame 73 x 83

The iconography of the Salvator Mundi recalls, enriching it, divine dedication to the human race, with particular reference to Christ's sacrifice for the salvation of all. The globe symbolizes the extension of divine blessing Urbi et orbi, a blessing declared in this painting by Christ himself through the gesture of his right hand, sacred par excellence. The codification of the globe symbol dates back to ancient pagan depictions of the Roman emperor, sculpted in bas-relief or minted by the state mint, bearing the globe of victory, an explicit reference to his military conquests. In developing a modern iconography consistent with the strong figurative references, both late Roman and Jewish, the first Christian artists embraced the meaning of the globe held by the emperor and attributed it to Christ, the true and final emperor, reigning in both the earthly and the afterlife.

The figurative style subsequently gained widespread recognition both for the immediacy of its message and the captivating aestheticization of the blessing gesture. In the present painting, a double light source illuminates the figure of Jesus: one from the halo, delicately illuminating the brown background against which the scene unfolds, and the other from Christ himself, illuminating the red robe he wears. The creaking folds of the blue cloak draped over his right shoulder enliven the portrait, enriched by the methodical three-quarter view of the Son, here preferred to the often-common, hieratic frontal presentation. On the globe, the artist chooses to dab the outline of the landmass, leaving a candid glimmer in the area of ​​Jesus's hand.

Art history boasts several excellent examples of this subject: suffice it to recall Antonello da Messina's Christ Blessing (National Gallery, London), although not holding the globe; or the Flemish examples preserved at the Museum Mayer van den Bergh (Antwerp), by an anonymous 16th-century artist, and at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, by Gerard David. Regarding the Italian brush, we also recall Andrea Previtali's Salvator Mundi (National Gallery, London) and Titian's (St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum).

The object is in good condition

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