The guardian angel, Roman painter of the mid-seventeenth cen

The Guardian Angel, Altarpiece depicting the Archangel Raphael and Tobias
Roman painter of the mid-seventeenth century - Circle of Pietro da Cortona (Cortona 1596 - Rome 1669)

Oil on canvas, 154 x 112
Provenance: Private collection, Rome

Of great character and excellent quality, this precious seventeenth-century altarpiece has as its subject the Archangel Raphael while he protects and indicates the right way to the boy Tobiolo: the meaning of this iconography has taken on a more extensive meaning over time, thus ending up becoming the emblem of the human soul protected by its guardian angel.

The unframed canvas was certainly set in an altar in a private chapel.

The work is imbued with a balanced and classicistic taste thanks to the skilful combination of the two figures. From the canvas emerges an evident inspiration to the compositions with the same subject by Pietro da Cortona, which were enormously successful in Rome: it is distinguished by a particularly powerful, solemn and spectacular Baroque language, also facilitated by its important dimensions.

The angel embraces and holds the child's hand while with the other he points to the sky, made of heavy clouds, intense flashes, plays of light, in full Baroque style and animated by angels: to this sky, full of a fort dramatic sense, contrast the composed and classical beauty of the angel, however characterized by a lively dynamism, and the tenderness of the child.

The conservation conditions of the work appear excellent, perfectly restored, the pictorial layer does not present any kind of problem, despite the size of the canvas.

Like all our objects, the work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and descriptive card (FIMA - CINOA)