The Holy Family — 19th-century Copy After Ludovico Cardi, Known As Cigoli

Oil on antique wood panel — signed and documented on the reverse
45 × 35 cm

An elegant religious painting created in the 19th century by a copyist, based on a composition by Ludovico Cardi, known as Cigoli (1559–1613), a Florentine painter of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.

The scene depicts the Flight into Egypt: the Virgin, clad in her flowing blue cloak, holds the Infant Jesus in her arms, while Saint Joseph accompanies them and a young angel, carrying a basket, leads the way. The artist paid particular attention to the figures’ postures and expressions, as well as to the subtle interplay of drapery and colors.

The composition is also distinguished by its beautiful Italianate landscape, which opens wide onto a luminous sky, with a city and its bell towers appearing in the distance between the hills. The contrast between the dark foreground and the blue sky lends the scene depth and a genuine pictorial presence.

The painting is executed on an antique canvas, whose texture and patina further enhance its character.

A particularly interesting detail accompanies the work: an old handwritten inscription on the reverse specifies its origin, noting in particular:

“Eugène Deully, born in Lille in 1860… at the Louvre, after Ludovico Cardi, known as Cigoli…”

This inscription allows us to place the painting within the tradition of copies after the old masters created by 19th-century painters, particularly in the context of studying the works housed at the Louvre.

A charming work that will appeal equally to lovers of old master paintings and religious subjects as well as to collectors of 19th-century paintings and copies after the great masters.

A lovely cabinet piece, in a highly decorative format, bearing on the reverse a particularly interesting account of its artistic provenance and its model.