17th century Italian school

Italian school of the 17th century.
"Holy Family".
Relief in gilded copper.
Framed with felt covered wood.
Measurements: 13 x 10,5 cm; 17 x 15 x 15 x 5 cm (frame).

Relief in gilded copper representing the Holy Family, a very common theme in Christian art, also presenting a series of variants. In the case of Mary, Child and St. Joseph, it is a theme that appears already in germ in the Nativities of the Middle Ages, but it is not developed and popularized until the Renaissance, spreading to a much greater extent in the Baroque thanks to the Counter-Reformation. Until the 17th century it was common for the figure of St. Joseph to appear slightly "separated" from Mary and Jesus, alluding to his role as the putative father of Christ. Since the Renaissance it was common to link the image of the Child Jesus with that of the very young St. John, visually alluding to the later relationship between the two (Baptism, Precursor, etc.), although, according to the Gospels, Christ meets St. John only when they meet at the Jordan River, before the Baptism.