Toledo school of the first third of the seventeenth century. "Calvary". Oil on canvas.

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OLD MASTERS

By Setdart Auction House

Nov 3, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-11-03 08:00:00 2021-11-03 08:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : OLD MASTERS https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/old-masters-7786
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• Lot Description
  Toledo school of the first third of the seventeenth century. "Calvary". Oil on canvas. In its original canvas. Presents repainting, jumps and faults. Frame of the twentieth century. Measurements: 220 x 135 cm; 227 x 143 cm (frame). Due to its style characteristics, the work we are dealing with evidences its belonging to the Spanish school of the first third of the XVII century, having to be considered as anonymous of Toledo school. This painting represents the Crucifixion with the Virgin, St. John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene at his feet, an iconographic form evolved from the original Byzantine Déesis, which represented Christ in Majesty accompanied by Mary and St. John the Baptist. In Western art, the representation of Christ on the cross was preferred, as a narrative scene, and the figure of St. John the Baptist was replaced by that of John the Evangelist. An image that in its conception and form is the result of the expression of the people and the deepest feelings that nestled in it. The composition that occupies us is resolved by the artist faithfully following the Gospel text, and therefore clearly represents all the characters, on a neutral background that enhances their corporeality. Jesus appears clearly highlighted in the center, illuminated, with a less contrasted and chiaroscuro treatment than the rest of the characters. At a formal level it is also worth mentioning the monumentality of the figures, worked with a marked sculptural sense, which derives in part from the influence of Michelangelo, filtered through the Roman-Bolognese classicists. The result is a painting that combines with balance and mastery the two great currents that shaped the Baroque at European level: the classical, in the figures, the eloquent theatricality of the gestures and the classical chromatism, applied in large fields, and the naturalist derived from Caravaggio and his followers, reflected in the careful and effective study of light. With the economy of the State broken, the nobility in decline and the high clergy burdened with heavy taxes, it was the monasteries, the parishes and the confraternities of clergymen and laymen who promoted its development, the works sometimes being financed by popular subscription. Painting was thus forced to capture the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when the Counter-Reformation doctrine demanded from art a realistic language so that the faithful would understand and identify with what was represented, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content to increase the fervor and devotion of the people. The religious subject is, therefore, the preferred theme of Spanish sculpture of this period, which in the first decades of the century began with a priority interest in capturing the natural, to progressively intensify throughout the century the expression of expressive values, which is achieved through the movement and variety of gestures, the use of light resources and the representation of moods and feelings.
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