Jesus With The Commissioner's Son, Italian school of the 17th century

Ancient painting depicting Jesus with the Commissioner's son
(Alternative reading: St. Joseph with the Child, or the 'Paternity')

Giovan Battista Salvi known as "the Sassoferrato" (1609 - 1685) circle / follower

Oil painting on canvas
76 x 59 cm. -With frame in the shape of a small temple, not coeval 99 x 84 cm.

The interesting canvas that we are pleased to offer you recalls the iconographic model of classic paternity, which traditionally sees Saint Joseph holding the sleeping baby Jesus tenderly in his arms;

Although the common popular tradition would have him as a mature man, in reality the Bible does not mention the age of Joseph when Jesus was born and therefore there was no lack of painters, from every age, who portrayed him at a young age as it could be for our painting.

One aspect that makes our work extremely intriguing, however, and which deserves a deeper interpretation, is the face of Joseph, whose somatic features unequivocally recall those we usually identify with Christ.

A possible alternative and certainly original reading, our favorite, could be that which sees Christ holding a child in his hands, joined to the figure of the client of the work of art, therefore a painting commissioned for a birth or as a good luck gift. , from whose emotional interaction between father and son transpires a strong sense of tenderness and protection together.

Turning now to the stylistic aspects, we are faced with a painting presenting the unmistakable requirements of the devotional representations which made the workshop of Giovan Battista Salvi known as Sassoferrato famous, although it illustrates a rather obsolete subject compared to its canonical iconography more linked to single Marian representations or with the Child.

Sassoferrato, named after his hometown in the Marche region, was trained in Rome together with Domenichino, coming into contact with the classicism of the great masters of the past, in particular Raphael, a continuous source of inspiration for him.

Our author, active between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, must necessarily have studied the works of Sassoferrato, celebrated for his easel paintings of devotional subjects characterized by a refined intimacy, a character that we find evident in this painting. The remarkable elegance in the description of the figure of Joseph (or Christ) and the serene composure of his expression convey a feeling of solemn sacredness, in a composition far from any reference to the Passion.

In fact, we consider this painting extremely suggestive as well as of excellent workmanship, characterized by a bright chromatic drafting and radiated by a clear light, typical prerogatives of Salvi's palette, which clearly highlight the smooth surface of the composition. Finally, it is worth mentioning the incredible ability of the author to take that beautiful play of light and shadow from his style, emphasized by the perfection of the nuances that define the harmonious forms, with the result that the two protagonists seem to be irradiated by a halo of supernatural light. .

The conservation conditions of the work appear good, with some old restorations. The painting is completed by a pleasant temple frame.