65 - Attributed to CARLO FRANCESCO NUVOLONE (Milan, 1609-1662).

Attributed to CARLO FRANCESCO NUVOLONE (Milan, 1609-1662). "Madonna before Calvary". Oil on canvas. The original canvas is preserved. It has a new frame, with canvas extensions on the sides. Frame from the end of the 17th century in carved and adapted gilded wood. Measurements: 129,5 x 94 cm; 151,5 x 117,5 cm (frame). With great expressiveness and devotional passion, the author presents us with a work in which the figure of the Virgin stars in a scene filled with an impulse of rotundity and mystical impetus, where Mary is positioned as an imperturbable symbol of the Christian Faith. Depicted in the centre of the composition, in a highly dramatic pose, the Virgin directs one of her hands towards her breast, while extending the other, opening her arm to the faithful. Her face, which is raised towards the sky, shows the pains suffered by the Virgin, whose half-open mouth reflects her suffering as the mother of the Saviour. Due to the aforementioned composition and the type of rapid brushstroke, some areas of which are undone, it is possible to deduce that this work was part of a larger ensemble, as an altarpiece, together with the Calvary of Christ. The technical characteristics of this work, such as the composition, the bare and stark glaze, the transparent veil covering part of the face, the gesture and pose of the Virgin, suggest a direct relationship with some of the works by the painter Carlo Francesco Nuvolone. An example of this is the Saint Ursula which will be auctioned at Sothebys on 29 July 2020. Both works depict a female figure depicted in a similar pose, holding her right hand to her breast and raising her face in a pious pose. Another very similar piece is "The Education of the Virgin" (1645-1650), from the collection of the Brecia Musei Foundation. In both cases the pose is very similar, and the treatment of the drapery, the veil and the capturing of the forms through the broad, light glazes are features common to both paintings. Carlo Francesco Nuvolone, together with his younger brother Giuseppe Nuvolone, was a key figure in the artistic development that took place in Lombardy in the 17th century. Carlo Franceso began his training under his father Panfilo Nuovolone, although he later continued under the orders of Battista Crespi. Since the Gothic period, the Ambrosian school had a great artistic tradition, financed mostly by the Visconti family, and this led to the interest of the area as an artistic residence, receiving a visit from Leonardo himself. However, despite all the tradition of the area, it was in the 17th century that painting in Lombardy received a great impulse that gave rise to an aesthetic renewal. Milanese painting was revived thanks to local collaboration, linked to the late Lombard Renaissance, with artists coming from other localities, especially Cremona, where Carlo Francesco Nuvolone's father was from. The activity of the Accademia Ambrosiana thus consolidated a particular and idiosyncratic style. The interest in Mannerism was abandoned in favour of a Baroque art with a strong interest in capturing dynamism, which in many cases advocated narrativity. Francesco Nuvolone's first known work is the Miracle of Saint Martha, now in the archiepiscopal seminary of Venegono Inferiore. He also painted some of the chapels of the collegiate church of San Lorenzo in Chiavenna, as well as non-religious works such as Susanna and the Old Men, and the Wife of Giuseppe and Putifarre.