Carlo Preda (Milan, 1651 or 1652 - 1729), Jesus Christ

Carlo Preda (Milan, 1651 or 1652 - 1729)
Jesus Christ
Oil on canvas, 38.5 x 28.5 cm - with frame 52 x 42

The work in question takes a close-up view of the face of Christ. He is depicted with golden shoulder-length blond curls, his face turned three quarters and his benevolent and intense gaze. The dark and uniform background highlights his figure pervaded by a warm lateral light, which fades into lighter shades around the face, giving it an aura of sacred timelessness. The use of bright colors is striking, softly spread on the canvas, creating deliberately undefined contours and refined chromatic combinations. Based on these stylistic and formal characteristics, the painting can be attributed to the hand of Carlo Preda (Milan, 1651 / 52-1729), one of the most original artists of the Milanese context of his time and one of the forerunners of the Lombard Baroque season. Born in Milan, the city where he lived all his life, he had his uncle, the painter Federico Bianchi, as his first teacher. In the eighties of the seventeenth century his art had a significant turning point linked to the activity in the territory of Casale Monferrato, arriving at a lighter compositional style and using a lighter palette. Subsequently, probably thanks to the influence of artists such as Domenico Piola, Bartolomeo Guidobono and Gregorio De Ferrari, exponents of the late Genoese Baroque, Carlo Preda arrives at a sweeter painting, of neo-corrosive matrix. That the decisive change of course was appreciated also by the client is revealed by the numerous positions received by the master between the end of the century and the beginning of the eighteenth century and also by the election as prince of the local Academy of S. Luca, in 1702. He worked, as well as in his hometown, also in neighboring territories such as Monza, Bergamo and Novara and the tests of the church environment he added a remarkable production of room works of both sacred and profane theme. Also known as an art expert, in 1715 the painter drew up an inventory of the collection of Giovan Pietro Orrigoni. His last documented proof dates back to 1724, the altarpiece already in Palazzo Leonardi in Trecate, now in the local monastery of the Sisters of Charity. For comparison with the analyzed work, see The visit of Santa Caterina in prison preserved at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan and the Christ supported by angels appeared on the market, where there are evident tangencies in the use of a warm and bright palette as well as in the careful description of the faces (note in particular the elongated cut of the eyes of the characters typical of the artist).