Luis De Morales, The Divine, 1560, Oil on Canvas

Details

Description

School of Luis de Morales
NO signature.
NO certification.

The painting, an original from the 16th century, reproduces an image … Read more School of Luis de Morales
NO signature.
NO certification.

The painting, an original from the 16th century, reproduces an image of the Pietà that was widespread in the 16th century throughout the dominions of the "Empire where the sun never sets." Examples can be found in Spain, Catholic Germany, and southern Italy. The most famous and valuable are attributed to the master of Spanish Mannerism, Luis de Morales (1510-1586), known as "El Divino," whose most famous "Pietàs" are housed in the Prado Museum, the Salamanca Museum, the Louvre, and Bilbao.
The image, which became a topos in the mid-16th century, depicts the faces of Christ and Mary very close together, one on the left and the other on the right of the canvas, in an almost unnatural position (in the Bilbao example, however, the figures are reversed). Attention is focused on the faces, whose expressions are exalted, as is characteristic of the Mannerist era. The overall effect conveys great pathos, marking a break with the serene balance of the Italian Renaissance. The dark backgrounds and grazing light prelude the tormented work of Caravaggio.
The canvas presented here displays features similar to other early works by El Divino in Eastern Sicily ("Last Supper" at the Castello Ursino Civic Museum in Catania and "Christ on the Way to Calvary" at the Civic Museum in Messina), where the figures still have softer features and have not yet undergone the vertical distortion that characterizes his mature works.
The "Mater Dolorosa" was produced in large numbers by Morales himself and his followers, marking the first mass-production of devotional items, intended to meet the needs of private prayer typical of the Counter-Reformation, and therefore often on small panels and canvases.
The work presented here is unsigned, as are the artist's other works (with the exception of one in Naples).
The painting presented here came into my family's possession after being purchased in 1995 from a Sicilian restorer in Modica, to whose family it had long belonged.
The stylistic characteristics and location The work's details suggest a probable attribution to the master or his workshop.

The antique dark wood frame is included.
Frame: 70 x 80 cm (27.5 x 31.5 in); painting: 50 x 63 cm (19.7 x 25.5 in). This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



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