Lot 8: LUCA LONGHI Madonna with the Baby, Saint Joseph, Saint Girolamo And a holy bishop

LUCA LONGHI
Madonna with the Baby, Saint Joseph, Saint Girolamo And a holy bishop
Oil on canvas
The table we are examining is a good example of the figurative Mannerist culture in Emilia Romagna where some elements of Raphael's Umbrian style coexist with some more local features, as a reference to Francesco Zagnelli's works of art. Vasari reminds us that Longhi was an expert portraitist and this pecularity appears especially in the figure of the bishop placed down on the right side of the canvas. Actually, the bishop might represent a probable buyer.
There are very incisive comparisons with the Madonna and Baby between Saint Francis and Saint George residing in the Town Hall in Sant'Arcangelo di Romagna and the Circumcision in the National Gallery of Ferrara.
The type of Madonna's face in a lowered position even if more softly in the graphic and colouristic structure can be found in a Madonna with the Baby (oil on canvas) by Barbara Longhi, Luca's daughter.
Her painting is owned by the Medieval and Renaissance Art Gallery of Indianapolis Museum of Art.
The table is in a sound state.
cm 93 x 71.5

cm 93 x 71.5

Oil on canvas