Spanish school from the second half of the 16th century

Spanish school of the second half of the 16th century.
"Virgin and Child with a Bunch of Grapes".
Oil on panel.
Measurements: 100 x 73 cm.
This purely Renaissance panel shows the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus on her lap, enthroned on a large stone seat with scrolls and pine cones on the sides. The mother of Jesus offers the Saviour a few grapes, a fruit that has been associated with the Eucharist and his role as Redeemer, while she is observed by a praying man who kneels before them, most probably the patron of the work. This gentleman is dressed in the fashion of the time, in rigorous black, with a small lily on his collar and cuffs (a very fashionable accessory during the reigns of Philip II and Philip III). The artist completes the scene with lavish classical architecture based on the repetition of semicircular arches that shelter a doorway in the lower part.
In the upper part of the composition, seven foreshortened child angels frolic on a bed of clouds and hold above their heads a large phylactery on which a Marian antiphon can be read: Ave Regina Caelorum (Hail, Queen of Heaven). The composition is symmetrical and orderly, but the graceful, naturalistic movement of the small bodies, which adopt the most varied attitudes, lends dynamism to the whole. A golden light radiates from the background and tints the sky blue. Thanks to the bold use of light, the bodies acquire an almost sculptural volume, modelled by subtle chromatic changes. During the Italian Renaissance, humanised depictions of angels, characterised as playful, chubby children with fluffy wings, became common. See, for example, Andrea Mantegna's endearing cherubs.