Saint Margaret - attributed to Simon Vouet

Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 78 x 56 cm

Like the Virgins with Child, the representation of the saints at mid-body is a constant in Simon Vouet's work.
The spirit that emerges from this painting is characteristic of Vouet's art, these ample draperies, these bright colors organized in subtle chords, this tender and sensual face bathed in a white light, and this soft hand with slender fingers serenely holding a piece of the drapery.
Surprisingly, the archaizing treatment of the dragon upsets the logic of an attribution to the French master of the early 17th century.
Many artists, pupils of Vouet, may have collaborated in the realization of the painting, and we know that artists such as Le Sueur and Michel Dorigny apprenticed in the master's studio in the first half of the 17th century.

Another Saint Marguerite with more Caravaggesque accents is listed in the artist's corpus under his Roman period.
Our painting is more from his French period, moving from a vehement lyricism to a more refined, learned style.
His palette is noticeably lighter, the refined touch echoes the art of Poussin, whose diffuse influence is felt in the treatment of our painting.

Antique gilded frame from the 17th century.