The Announcing Angel
Lucrina Fetti, born Giustina Fetti (Rome, circa 1590 – Mantua, 1673) attributable
Oil on canvas
75 x 62 cm. - Antique gilded wood frame 87 x 74 cm.
FULL DETAILS OF THE PAINTING (CLICK HERE)
The proposed work, characterized by refined sacredness, depicts the Archangel Gabriel as he is about to deliver the supreme announcement to the Virgin, offering her the canonical white lilies, a symbol of purity and chastity: it is a splendid subject, executed with great stylistic quality, probably commissioned for private use and therefore particularly pleasant and easy to place.
The Angel takes the form of a young man of rare beauty, with delicate features, wrapped in a precious robe with soft drapery, all accentuated by intense classicism, where a balanced composition directs the viewer's attention to his face.
The painting is attributable to the Baroque painter Lucrina Fetti, born Giustina Fetti (Rome, circa 1590 – Mantua, circa 1673), younger sister and pupil of the better-known painter Domenico Fetti, from whom she learned the secrets of the trade in their father's workshop in Rome, and who later became a painter at the court of the Gonzaga in Mantua.
The painter's style is influenced by theatrical painting, rich in chiaroscuro contrasts and bright colors typical of the Baroque taste, all characteristics inherited from her brother. And the definition of our angel also presents the recurring physiognomic traits of her religious figures, with full cheeks, small but fleshy lips, and an intense gaze.
Her model was strongly influenced both by her Roman family training and by her long court devotional activity in 17th-century Mantua, carried out within the convent of Sant'Orsola, where she managed to carve out a role of great cultural and social prestige.
The very fine features of the angel's face, here depicted in three-quarters view, are exemplary of the grace of the painter's models and can be found in works such as the Archangel Gabriel (ref. 1) or the Annunciation (ref. 2), both part of the collection of the Palazzo Ducale Museum in Mantua.
Known for her altarpieces and her wonderful sacred paintings, Fetti's mastery also extends to portraiture, an aspect that can also be seen in our angel, who shows us the appearance of a delightful young maiden, following those still Renaissance dictates where the ideal of beauty and perfection were identified with the female face. In this regard, compare the face of our angel with that of Saint Barbara ((ref. 3, Claudio Strinati Collection, Rome): the comparison between the features of the two figures, almost identical especially in the detail of the swollen lower eyelid to evoke emotion, is an element that supports the attribution hypothesis (see comparative detail of the two works in the published photos).
(ref. 1) Archangel Gabriel of the Annunciation, Lucrina Fetti, Mantua, Museo di Palazzo Ducale, https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/fotografie/schede/IMM-2s010-0000736/
(ref. 2) Annunciation, Lucrina Fetti, Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/opere-arte/schede/t6140-00189/
(ref. 3) Saint Barbara (Roman collection Claudio Strinati, originally Chiesa di S. Orsola, Mantua), https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_B%C3%A1rbara_by_Lucrina_Fetti,_1619.jpg
The state of conservation of the work appears good.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The painting is sold complete with a handsome frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.
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