Presentation Of The Rosary To Saint Dominic By The Virgin Mary, Oil On Canvas, 18th

School of Bologna, first half of the 18th century.

Sitting in the glory of heaven, the Virgin, surrounded by angels and holding the Child Jesus on her lap, holds out a rosary to kneeling Dominic, founder of the Dominicans, dressed in the black and white dress of his order.

This scene is an echo of the tradition that the Virgin Mary appeared in St. Dominic in the early 13th century, giving him the rosary as a spiritual tool to fight heresy. Mary's gesture symbolizes here the mission entrusted to Dominique : to spread the prayer of the rosary as a weapon of peace and truth.

Dominique, the gaze raised with devotion, embodies the model of the humble and zealous preacher, inspired by the divine light. The celestial composition, bathed in a golden light, underlines the supernatural inspiration of his vocation. In contrast, the bottom of the painting shows an earthly landscape, recalling the world in which he worked : a world in spiritual crisis, which he tried to illuminate through speech, prayer, and the foundation of an order devoted to study and preaching.

The angels that populate the clouds reinforce the mystical scope of the scene : they guide the viewer towards the ideal of active contemplation that Saint Dominic embodies. This painting is not only a work of devotion ; it is also a lesson of faith embodied in a major historical and spiritual figure of the Church.

Dimensions
Canvas : 123 x 83 cm - Frame : 144 x 104

Period frame