Ligurian school, 18th century, Madonna with Child and Saint John the Baptist

Ligurian school, 18th century Madonna with Child and Saint John the Baptist Marble, height 43 cm Base, 16 x 8 cm The sculpture in question, depicting a Madonna with Child and Saint John the Baptist at her feet, is a marble artifact attributable to the Genoese school of the 18th century, which developed in the wake of the great Baroque sculptors of the Genoese 17th century, such as Pierre Puget (Marseille 1620 – 1694) and Filippo Parodi (Genoa, 1630 – Genoa, July 22, 1702). The evident assimilation of Pugetian and Parodian models suggests a dating of the work to the very early years of the 18th century, when the theme of the sacred, emptied of pathetic accents for a lighter and more subdued tone, acquires a progressive stylization of forms and distinctive physiognomic traits, such as the cut of the eyes which becomes sharper. It is interesting to note how the little Jesus, held in the arms of the Virgin, appears here as a common child, slightly chubby and caught while seeking the attention of his mother, who instead looks into the distance in front of her, as if foreshadowing his dramatic destiny. At the foot of her robe, with an equally playful attitude, is the little Saint John the Baptist. It is possible to note a similar treatment of the theme – here reinterpreted - in the Madonna Carrega by Pierre Puget now preserved in the Museum of Sant'Agostino in Genoa and in the Double-sided Statue with Madonna and Child and Saint Anthony and Child by an unknown Genoese sculptor of the second half of the 17th century preserved in the same museum. A further reference is to be found in the production of Filippo Parodi: the treatment of the child and the pose of his Madonna del Carmine in the Church of Saints Vittore and Carlo in Genoa could only have been inspiration for the present sculptor.