Roman School, Second Half Of The 17th Century, The Holy Family

Roman school, second half of the 17th century

Holy Family with Saint Catherine and a Franciscan Saint

Oil on panel, 45.5 x 37 cm

With frame, 64 x 55 cm

The painting depicts an expanded Holy Family, a common motif in religious art of the second half of the 17th century, in which the central group of the Virgin, the Child, and Saint Joseph is flanked by Saint Catherine of Alexandria and a Franciscan friar in adoration. In the center, the Virgin, wrapped in a large blue cloak, holds the Child, who turns to the right, away from Saint Catherine, recognizable by her golden robe and welcoming gesture. On the left, in the foreground, a kneeling Franciscan friar, his hands clasped in prayer, embodies contemplative devotion, while slightly further back, Saint Joseph can be glimpsed in a play of foregrounds and backgrounds that draws the eye toward the dark depths of the grotto. Above, amid swift-moving clouds and a red drape billowing in the wind, winged cherubs appear. In the right background, a glimpse of a hilly landscape opens up, following a convention typical of Roman painting, which assigns the landscape a secondary role. The work belongs to the tradition of Roman devotional painting from the second half of the 17th century, when the Holy Family, expanded to include saints, became a favored subject of private religious commissions, in line with the post-Tridentine taste for images capable of uniting natural emotions and mystical intensity. The warm color palette, the solid rendering of the figures, and the soft chiaroscuro reveal a Baroque heritage, influenced by Emilian and Marche models that spread to Rome through the workshop of Pietro da Cortona.