33
Spanish School of the 17th century
Estimate
10.000 - 15.000
Session 1
11 December 2017
Hammer Price
Register to access this information.Description
Christ Served by the Angels in the Wilderness
Oil on canvas
(restorations)
240x195 cm
Category
Paintings
Additional Information
The work we present at auction, with a very unusual theme, is based on the passage from Matthew 4, 11: "Then the devil left him and the angels came and served Him." Just before public life begins, Jesus collects in the wilderness for 40 days fasting where he is tempted by the devil. At the end of this retreat the angels serve Him a feast.
The same theme, although uncommon, has some examples in the seventeenth century in the Italian painting Lodovico Carracci (1555-1619) dated 1608-1610, or in the Spanish Francisco Pacheco (1564-1644) dated 1615.
In the present work Christ appears to us in majesty in the center of the composition blessing the food, surrounded by angels who give him fish, bread and fruit. The brooches that hold the garments of these winged creatures, as well as the ewer used by an angel to collect water from the spring, denounce the late 16th century, late 17th century jewellery taste.
Closed Auction
