Eludoric Pietà of the Venetian school early 17-th century.

Eludorique of the Venetian school early17-th century representing a Pietà, in its carved and gilded wooden frame. A Pietà, or Virgin of Pity, is a theme of iconography in Christian painting; it represents the Virgin Mary as Mater dolorosa, mother crying for her son, Jesus Christ, whom she holds on her knees at the time of the descent from the cross, after the crucifixion and before his burial. The elusive painting or painting under glass is linked to the glass industry and its spread. Introduced in Venice in the Middle Ages, it reached its full maturity in the second half of the 16th century thanks to the influence of the Byzantine glassmakers who had settled on the island of Murano since the 13th century. Venice then became one of the production centers of this art from the 16th to 17th century. Two groups of paintings under glass are attributed to the Venetian workshops: one with deep blue skies and figures in the foreground on a landscape background, the other using fine hatching patterns that evoke the technique of engraving. Painting under glass is a unique technique because the work is done on the back of the glass. While on a canvas one sketches the composition with large strokes and then executes the flat areas of color to gradually finish with the details, in reverse glass painting one proceeds in the opposite way. Contrary to the normal technique, to execute the details (the nose, the eyes, the flowers) before the background (the face, the landscape), the viewer having to look at the finished work on the unpainted side of the glass plate. The glass painter starts with the details of the work and ends with the background. Thus, down to the smallest detail, the painter must imagine from the start the final version of the image to be realized knowing that he will also have to deal with a "mirror effect" during the execution of the image since what is painted upside down on the right is right side up on the left.

Dimensions Length 31cm - Height 34.5cm.