The Education of the Virgin - Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (1609 – 1662)

"The Education of the Virgin"
Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (Milan 1609 – 1662)
Oil on canvas
Golden frame
Canvas 80 x 106 cm
Frame 87 x 113 cm
Excellent condition

The Education of the Virgin is a very common subject in 17th-century painting, featuring Saint Anne instructing the Child Mary with teachings from the Holy Scriptures.
The large canvas published here depicts the scene in a more complex and interesting way, with the apparition of the Eternal Father surrounded by joyful angels blessing Mother and Daughter, with Joachim nearby, gazing in amazement at the divine vision.
The scenic composition is highly refined and beautifully crafted, with striking volumes.
The artist arranges the three figures in the foreground to form a transverse line across the canvas. He portrays them clearly, both frontally and in profile, and uses chiaroscuro contrasts to bring them to life. The stern figure of God the Father and the group of angels are painted in less detail, avoiding strong contrasts to convey the sensation of a supernatural event.
The result is surprising, with the canvas depicting the two scenes connected and very close yet clearly separated in two different contexts, one earthly and one divine.
This work, of excellent craftsmanship, can be placed within the Lombard Baroque painting of the mid-17th century, and displays the pictorial and coloristic characteristics of the milanese master Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (Milan, 1609–1662), who with this canvas demonstrates his penchant for elegant, perfectly blended hues, free from bright colors and forced juxtapositions.
The painting is in excellent condition, complete with a thin gilded frame.
An old relining was made in the last century in a perfect manner (see detail).