ESCUELA ITALIANA

(S. XVII)

ITALIAN SCHOOL (17th century) “Child Jesus Savior of the World”

Oil on agate. Gilded bronze, silver and lapis lazuli frame. The creation in Florence of the Opificio delle pietre dure, in 1588, was a great boost to the development of painting on stone. During the government of Cosimo II, this type of works carried out on semi-precious media proliferated, characterized by their refinement and delicate workmanship; During the 17th century this practice spread to other regions of Italy and different nations. The excellent workmanship of the support of this painting, an agate with its double octagonal frame, with a polylobed profile in gilded bronze with decoration of volutes and scallops in silver and lapis lazuli backgrounds, leads us to think of a Florentine or Roman workshop of the 16th century. . The quality of the painting is matched by the excellent work done on the support and the nobility of its materials. It presents numerous formal and technical parallels with the works of Jacques Stella (Lyon, 1596 - Paris, 1657), a painter who, precisely, was especially skilled in handling painting on stone and who knew perfectly the artistic centers of Florence. and Rome, before returning permanently to his native France. The Child Jesus presents proportions and physiognomic features that allow it to be related to other of his works. The same can be said of his precise and refined technique, and the delicate way in which he models the volumes of the Lateh. With gold, in the same way as in other paintings, he silhouettes the contours of the veins of the stone, here forming a cloud on which the feet of the Divine Infant rest; using the same material to make the lines of their powers. Measurements: 27.5 x 25 cm. Painted agate: 14 x 11.5 cm.