Roman School, 17th century, Madonna with Child

Roman school, 17th century

Madonna with Child

Oil on copper, 15 x 11 cm

With frame, 26 x 22 cm

The small copper on display here depicts the Madonna and Child on a dark background but delicately illuminated by a sacred light emanating from the two protagonists in the foreground. The choice of light, the half-length cut of the Virgin, the light tones barely contrasted by a pleasant and unobtrusive chiaroscuro and the pose of the two characters recall the seventeenth-century examples of a similar subject from the Roman school. The classicism in the positioning of the figures and in the poses is intertwined with the wisely measured use of light, reminiscent of Caravaggio's examples but rendered in a more sweetened and enveloping manner rather than contrasting and impetuous. The sweetness of the Child asleep in her lap, the delicate grip of the Virgin, whose gaze is turned upwards, are painted with masterly precision on the copper support, which gives greater fluidity to the brush strokes and a sharper and more lucid intensity to the light colours of the draperies.