Spanish school, 18th century.
"Saint Charles Borromeo before the Virgin and Child".
Oil on copper.
Measurements: 41 x 33 cm; 56 x 47,5 cm (frame).
A court of angels, in the lower plane, holds a phylactery and garlands, forming a first ascending circle, which is followed by a choir of seraphim. In the upper plane, Charles Borromeo in prayerful pose is about to be canonised by the Child Jesus, whom the Virgin is holding in her arms. This is a typically Baroque break of glory. Golden lights envelop the figures and model them in their rounded, sculptural forms. Saint Charles Borromeo was a reformer saint of the post-Tridentine period, cardinal nephew of Pius IV and archbishop of Milan. From an aristocratic family, he received the clerical tonsure at the age of eight, and shortly afterwards was sent to Milan to study humanities under the preceptor Bonaventura Castiglioni. In 1559 he obtained a doctorate in law, and in the same year his uncle, Giovanni Angelo de' Medici, was elected pope, a decisive event in the life of the young Charles. The recently appointed Pope Pius IV sent him to Rome and showered him with honours and dignities, including that of cardinal. A man of extraordinary talent for government, his life changed radically when he was ordained a priest in 1563. He gave up his worldly tastes, such as hunting and music, and retired to the Jesuits. However, he again took part in Vatican politics at the third convocation of the Council of Trent, where he was able to avoid serious conflict. Later, when he was ordained Cardinal of Milan, the most famous event of the saint's life took place, which defines the heroic self-sacrifice and sense of responsibility of his office: the so-called plague of St. Charles in his city. Borromeo was away, but when he heard of the outbreak of the plague, he hastened his return to help the sick both materially and spiritually. Once there, he made alms begging in the city and sold his remaining precious objects from his own patrimony. He even gave up the hangings of his palace to make clothes. He went everywhere in person, visited all the neighbourhoods and administered the last sacraments himself to the priests who succumbed to this work of charity, disregarding the danger of contagion.