Italian school; last quarter of the 17th century.

Italian school; last quarter of the 17th century.
"Allegory of music".
Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private collection of Venice.
Measurements: 44 x 35 cm.
In this scene the author presents us in the foreground and in a monumental way to two characters. A young lady, of snowy skin and classic beauty, holds in her hand a score with the IV act, scene V of Atys of Jean Baptiste Lully. Her half-open mouth indicates that the young lady is performing it, and this idea is reinforced by the character standing directly behind her, looking directly at the viewer. He brings one of his fingers to his lips, thus imploring the viewer with his gesture to be silent in a direct way. Allegorical paintings emerged in the Middle Ages with the intention of exalting the qualities and situations of life. This type of portraits were used to exalt the qualities of a particular character, such as kings, or recognized personalities, although in this particular case the artist tries to represent the arts in particular the music that obviously associated with beauty and youth as eternal and immutable concepts. In fact, during the neoclassicism this trend was again in vogue. In this particular case it is not a recognized character, but the painter wanted to reflect the initial concept of the use of allegory in pictorial art.
In terms of aesthetics, it should be noted that the monumentality of the figures, the pictorial treatment, with a precise brushstroke that is deliberately blurred in areas such as the hair or clothing of the young woman to provide greater volume and quality to the textures, indicate that this is a work with a clear influence of the Italian school. Furthermore, in the case of the secondary character who invades the scene, we can appreciate a heritage close to tenebrism, not only in the warmth of his face and the contrast of light exerted by the shadows on his face, but also in the model himself, whose gesture reveals a certain taste for the picaresque, so in vogue during the aforementioned period.