Holy Family and Saint Catherine workshop of Luca Cambiaso (1527-1585)

Luca Cambiaso
(Moneglia 1527 - Madrid El Escorial 1585)
workshop of

second half of the 16th century
oil painting on canvas
Measurements (cm): 72 x 102
with frame 93 x 122

Excellent condition of the canvas and the paint layer

This fascinating sixteenth-century canvas immediately strikes for the splendid color scheme and for the brightness of the figures in the foreground, accentuated by a masterful chiaroscuro effect and by the shaded area on the right side which reveals a half-hidden St. Joseph.

The compositional typology and the style of the painting direct the attributive research to the Genoese painter Luca Cambiaso (Moneglia, 1527-Madrid, 1585) or to his workshop.

The painting, depicting a Holy Family in adoration of the child with Saint Catherine, is a very typical work of Cambiaso. The subject is one of the most frequented by the artist, who has provided many variations, evidently solicited by a client who appreciated the sweet and serene atmosphere that the master knew how to infuse the scene.

His painting, as clearly emerges from our work, is affected by a multiplicity of influences.
In his subjects the delicate images and the colourism of Venetian painting emerge above all.

The complexions touched by a diaphanous luminosity belong to the mature phase of his production, which also denotes an evident desire to renew his own expressive refinement towards an essential and strongly emotional representation.