Flemish school of the XVI century.

Flemish school of the XVI century.
"St. John and the Agnus Dei".
Oil on panel.
It has not been restored.
Measurements: 39 x 33,5 cm; 57 x 53 cm (frame).

The theme of the Agnus Dei or Lamb of God in the company of St. John the Baptist Child was widely represented in the Nordic Renaissance, and during the Baroque would be taken up by Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens, among other Flemish artists. The Christian element (the allegory of Christ sacrificed for humanity) is in this magnificent painting a secondary motif, an excuse to capture a lucid and tender scene, almost folkloric. Thus, the theme is subsumed to the will of showing some children enraptured by the woolly creature, a lamb that, affectionately, lets itself be caressed and licks the hand of one of them. The painter seeks to contrast, in a veiled and subtle way, the sweetness and innocence of the little ones with the dramatic symbolism that underlies the image. We recognize Juanito by the camel skin that covers him and by the cross on which a red cloth is flaming (a color that emphasizes the idea of martyrdom). Otherwise, Juan's body does not differ from those of the two angels, who lack wings and seraphic attributes. The three share similar plump but elastic anatomies, turned limbs, countenances lit by a slight glow and curly hair. The lamb appears oversized in comparison with the children, and its white, cottony fur receives the clear light of a limpid sky, furrowed by light clouds. The scene takes place in the shade of a thick tree trunk. In the distance, some houses of a village in Flanders, contemporary to the painter, can be glimpsed. The latter tells us about an incipient pictorial genre at that time, the painting of landscapes with small villages. In this case, the landscape fulfills a narrative and secondary function, but in artists like Brueghel a change will soon be appreciated: rural daily life will be imposed as a theme in itself.