Q59523694

Giovanni Lanfranco painted this canvas in 1636 during his mature Roman period, when he was among the most sought-after decorators in the city. Having returned from Naples where he had completed monumental fresco cycles, Lanfranco brought with him a heightened sense of illusionistic drama and swelling Baroque theatricality. His work of the 1630s reflects the full absorption of Annibale Carracci's classicism filtered through the more emotive sensibilities of Correggio, whose ceiling paintings in Parma had profoundly shaped Lanfranco's vision of celestial space. The canvas ended up in the Museo del Prado, entering the Spanish royal collections through diplomatic channels and conquest that brought major Italian Baroque works to Madrid over the course of the seventeenth century.

Lanfranco's characteristic warm palette and fluid, confident brushwork are evident in this canvas. His figures occupy space with a convincing sense of weight and movement, typical of his mature style, while the layered glazes produce luminous transitions from shadow to highlight.