Bottega di Pietro da Cortona (Cortona 1597 – Roma 1669)
L'Immacolata sconfigge il Drago, con Dio Padre e gli angeli
Workshop of Pietro da Cortona, born as Pietro Berrettini (Cortona 1597 - Rome 1669)
Attributable to Lazzaro Baldi (Pistoia 1622 - Rome 1703)
Immaculate Madonna defeating Evil, with God the Father and angels
Oil on canvas
118 x 92 cm.
In frame 137 x 111 cm.
Of great character and excellent quality, this precious 17th century altarpiece depicting the Immaculate Virgin Mary is the work of a talented painter active in Rome at the height of the 17th century. As to its original destination, the format of the canvas suggests that it was intended for the private devotion of the patrons, probably set in an altar of a private chapel.
The stylistic features of the painting show that it belongs to the Roman figurative culture of the mid 17th century.
The Virgin stands statuesquely portrayed in a frontal position shrouded in clouds, standing on the crescent moon, while below her wriggles Satan in the guise of a winged monster, leonine body, head and tail of a serpent. Her gaze is turned towards the angel who flies towards her while she is wearing a white tunic and a deep blue mantle, her hands crossed on her chest.
Above, the Eternal Father lays his left hand on the head of the Virgin, surrounded by a flock of angels flying among clouds charged with intense glow and play of light, in full Baroque style.
The masterful composition draws inspiration from a painting by Pietro da Cortona, characterised by a balanced orchestration based on the gradual transition from evil to good, from Satan to God the Father through the figure of the Virgin.
This is the altarpiece painted in 1662 by the great painter for the high altar of San Filippo Neri in Perugia, commissioned by Cardinal Luigi Capponi, Archbishop of Ravenna.
The altarpiece has an unusual iconography, in which God creates the Virgin with a hand gesture that cannot but evoke the one Michelangelo used in his famous fresco of the Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. In this regard, the Virgin is standing on a cloud above a defeated dragon representing original sin.
The composition, although personalised in numerous details, is rendered with a masterly touch by a painter gravitating around the figure of Pietro da Cortona, whose flourishing workshop in Rome was able to form a large group of pupils, influenced by the master and disseminators of his pictorial verbiage.
An analysis of the details of the canvas lead us to attribute its authorship to Lazzaro Baldi from Pistoia (Pistoia 1622 - Rome 1703), one of the most faithful 'Cortonesque' painters. The frayed and textured brushstrokes, the subtlety of touch present in both the beautiful faces and the rendering of the robes, and certain colour nuances and chromatic preciousness such as the intense blue of the virgin's robes, are all elements that characterise the Pistoiese artist's pictorial work and are fundamental in our case to support the attribution thesis.
The conservation condition of the work appears excellent.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The work is sold together with an attractive gilded wooden frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic card.
We take care of and organise the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers.
Contact us for any information, we will be happy to answer you. You can also see the painting in the gallery in Riva del Garda, we will be glad to welcome you and show you our collection of works.
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