Italian School, 16th Century, Follower Of Caravaggio — Saint John Embracing Christ’s Feet

ITALIAN SCHOOL, 16TH CENTURY, FOLLOWER OF CARAVAGGIO
Saint John Kissing the Feet of Christ on the Cross
Oil on a tondo-shaped panel, in a blackened and gilt wooden frame.
H_30 cm W_25 cm
Network of craquelure, slight lifting of the paint layer and wear to the frame.

This intimate and dramatic composition is firmly rooted in the Caravaggesque tradition. The tightly focused depiction of the saint’s fervent embrace and the strongly contrasted treatment of light—chiaroscuro—convey the mystical fervour and emotional intensity characteristic of Counter-Reformation religious painting. Caravaggio’s naturalism and powerful contrasts of light and shadow profoundly influenced religious painting in Italy and throughout Europe

This moving close-up composition conveys the devotion and mystical pain characteristic of Counter-Reformation art. The scene concentrates its entire dramatic tension on the face of the saint, who fervently embraces the legs of Christ on the Cross, with one of the nails driven into the wood visible.

The Mannerist and Baroque treatment of the figures, heightened by a highly pronounced play of shadows and light, evokes the influence of the Italian masters and the development of Caravaggism during the early seventeenth century