Italian school; 18th century.
"Madonna and Child".
Oil on canvas. Re-drawn.
It presents faults and losses on the pictorial surface.
Measurements: 85 x 69 cm.
In this work of oval format the author recreates a break of glory in which the figures of the Virgin and the Child stand out, who are in the centre of the scene. It is interesting because the Virgin, dressed in her pinkish tunic, blue cloak and crown of strasses, steps on the serpent that represents sin, features that are typical of the invocation of the Virgin as the Immaculate Conception. However, in that iconography she always appears alone, while in this image, leaning on a cloud and surrounded by his mother's arm, the little Jesus can be seen wearing his purity cloth and blessing with one hand.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, ambitious pictorial series and extensive iconographic programmes were created for churches and convents, as well as printed prints, medals and reliquaries for private devotion. Taken as a whole, regardless of their size or medium, these images served the purpose of sacralising everyday life beyond the altars.