Follower of Francesco Vanni

Follower of FRANCESCO VANNI (Siena, 1563 - 1610).
"Madonna of Silence.
Oil on copper.
Size: 21 x 15,5 cm; 36,5 x 30 cm (frame).
The iconographic theme is the contemplation of the child who is sleeping while his mother, the Virgin, adores him. It is the combination of the concepts of mother and child in a natural and tender attitude, as well as the mother of God observing the divine and transcendental character of her son. The painter offers us a scene with a very long tradition in the Christian West, worked with subtle gradations of half-tones. Since the end of the Middle Ages artists have insisted on depicting, in an increasingly intense manner, the bond of affection that united Christ with his Mother and the close relationship between them, and this was encouraged in the Renaissance and, naturally, in the Baroque period, when the exacerbation of emotions characterised a large part of artistic production. This characteristic became increasingly common over the centuries. It is worth noting the symbolism of the colours of the cloth, the blue cloak representing universality, the red tunic alluding to the passion of Christ, and the white cloth showing the purity and innocence of Jesus. Therefore, despite the calmness of the Virgin's facial gestures, her clothing defines her as a suffering mother, aware of her son's fate.
Aesthetically the work belongs to the artistic circle of Francesco Vanni, an Italian painter, draughtsman, engraver, publisher and printer active in Rome and in his native city of Siena. Vanni came from a family of painters. When he was 16, Vanni moved to Bologna and then to Rome. He was apprenticed to Giovanni de 'Vecchi during 1579-1580, although he was also greatly influenced by other Tuscan painters of his day. In Rome he worked with Salimbeni, Bartolomeo Passerotti and Andrea Lilio. Pope Clement VIII commissioned him to paint an altarpiece for Saint Peter's, later transferred to mosaic, Simon the Magician rebuked by Saint Peter. He painted several other pictures for Roman churches, including St Michael defeating the rebellious angels for the sacristy of St Gregory's; a Pieta of St Mary in Vallicella; and the Assumption of St Lawrence in Miranda. In Siena, he painted a S. Raimondo walking on the Sea for the church of the Dominicans. Vanni painted a Baptism of Constantine (1586-1587) for the church of San Agostino in Siena. He was active as an engraver and engraved three devotional engravings to his own designs. In addition, he was the publisher of a large four-plate map of Siena that he himself had designed and engraved by the Flemish engraver Pieter the Elder. In 1595 he asked Lorenzo Usimbardi for help in obtaining financial support for the publication of the map.