FRANCISCO RIZI DE GUEVARA Madrid (1614) / San Lorenzo del E

Oil on canvas. Reference bibliography: - Angulo Iniguez, D., “Francisco Rizi: his life. Religious paintings dated before 1670”, Spanish Art Archive, Madrid, 1958, volume XXXI, no. 122, early 171-173. 89-115 - Perez Samchez, AE, Carreño, Rizi, Herrera and the Madrid painting of his time (1650-1700), exhibition catalogue, Madrid, 1985. Francisco Rizi was one of the main promoters and introducers of the Full Baroque in Madrid, bringing in new works from Italy and Flanders during the middle years of the 17th century. From his earliest works, his pictorial style was influenced by the great Flemish compositions of Rubens and his circle, showing a taste for spotty brushstrokes, loose workmanship and delicate colours, in which clear Venetian resonances can be appreciated. The work presented here, as Jose Maria Quesada states in his studio, is an unpublished and original model by Francisco Rizi that was intended to preside over the altarpiece of the main altar of the church of a Dominican convent due to the presence of Saint Catherine of Siena. The Virgin and Child Jesus preside over the scene. Both hold in their hands two rosaries which they give to the founders of the Dominican order: Saint Dominic of Guzman and Saint Catherine of Siena. Presented in a composition in the manner of Sacra Conversazione, Jose Maria Quesada points out that Rizi used the same scheme in two other altar paintings: The Virgin and Child, Saint Philip and Saint Francis, signed and dated 1650, which presides over the main altar of the church of the convent of Our Lady of the Angels of the Capuchin Fathers of El Pardo (Madrid) and The Virgin and Child with Saint Francis and possibly Saint Isabel of Portugal, painted around 1678, for the convent of Capuchin Mothers of Plasencia. There are numerous formal parallels with this last work, especially in the group of angels holding the Virgin and Child. A study of the work carried out by Jose Maria Lopez Quesada of the Institute of Historical-Artistic Studies is included. Measurements: 75.5 x 49 cm.