Madonna with Child - Pietro Ronzelli (1588 - 1621)

Painting oil on canvas measuring 98 x 75 cm without frame and 105 x 83 cm with frame, depicting a Madonna and Child enthroned between Saints Defendente and Fermo by the painter Pietro Ronzelli (Bergamo, active between 1588 and 1621).

The painting, which is well preserved, depicts the Madonna and Child enthroned between two saints in armour, identifiable from the inscriptions at the bottom of the canvas.

The two saints are, of course, two soldiers of Egyptian and African origin who did not renounce their Catholic faith and died as martyrs; both are depicted according to traditional iconography, i.e. dressed as ancient Roman soldiers with armour, swords and palms.

The passionate interpretation of the religious image, achieved with compact brushstrokes spread over a dark background, highlights a modus operandi typical of a Lombard painter of the late 16th/early 17th century who favoured bright colour combinations and a somewhat visionary formal expressiveness, as can be seen from the thick, regular brushstrokes and the types of characters depicted.

The painting, which is well preserved, depicts the Madonna and Child enthroned between two saints in armour, identifiable from the inscriptions
The name that immediately springs to mind is that of Pietro Ronzelli, an artist probably born around 1560 and who died after 1621. In this canvas, we can see the characteristic mixture of influences drawn from the paintings of Moroni and Cavagna, typical of Ronzelli himself.

These qualities allow us to date the work to the early 17th century, when the painter developed a complex, counter-reformed visual style, in which conscientious execution coexisted with balanced forms.