Christ Surrounded by Angels in the Desert
Circle of Pietro da Cortona, born as Pietro Berrettini (Cortona 1597 – Rome 1669)
Oils on canvas (66 x 50 cm - Framed 80 X 64 cm)
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The painting offered, of high qualitative and artistic level, is a work executed towards the end of the seventeenth century by an author from the Roman area. It illustrates the rare evangelical episode of the temptations of Christ when, after his baptism, he was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert, remaining there for forty days tempted by the devil.
We see, in particular, the epilogue of this episode, where a riot of angels approaches to refresh Christ, victorious but prostrate for having resisted the temptations; in the background of the scene there is a rocky wall from which a stream gushes, perhaps alluding to the water of the Jordan and therefore to his baptism.
Christ is portrayed kneeling, with his hands placed in a sign of prayer and gratitude, surrounded by four large winged angels, one of whom is serving him food while the others watch him devoutly; another of them is completely bowed before him, in a sign of reverence for the will and strength of having resisted evil. In the upper part, to complete the composition, a group of joyful cherubs in flight are preparing to support a large basket overflowing with fruit.
There is now no trace of the diabolical figures that tempted him, the environment is celestial and this riot of angels and cherubs, the water that gushes from the rock and the beam of light that shatters the clouds, amplify this sense of spirituality.
The analysis of stylistic and figurative characters show the belonging to the Roman school of the full seventeenth century, capable of expressing a refined style, and managing to blend the Baroque language, by definition sumptuous, with elements of classicist ancestry.
In particular, the work should be attributed to the circle of painters active in the orbit of Pietro Berrettini known as Pietro da Cortona, one of the interpreters of the Baroque school, whose Roman workshop was composed of a flourishing host of pupils, influenced by the master and disseminators of his pictorial word.
Among these, we can name Guillaume Courtois known as il Borgognone (Saint-Hippolite 1628 - Rome 1679), Ciro Ferri (Rome 1633 - 1689) and finally Lazzaro Baldi (Pistoia 1622 - Rome 1703), with whom our canvas shows a strong stylistic consonance.
The canvas is in excellent condition. Gilded wooden box frame, from the 19th century
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The work is sold with a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic sheet.
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