Attributed to Bernardo Bitti

Attributed to BERNARDO BITTI (Camerino, Italy, 1548-Lima, 1610).
"Dolorosa".
Oil on copper.
It has frame of the seventeenth century.
Measurements: 18 x 14 cm; 45,5 x 41,5 cm (frame).

Devotional work that presents the bust of the Virgin Mary in the foreground, captured in large size, occupying most of the pictorial surface and even coming out of it. It is a monumental figure, worked with great delicacy and illuminated directly by a clear and uniform light, with classical roots. Mary stands out against a neutral, flat and dark background. The Virgin appears dressed in a red tunic, alluding to the Passion of Christ and her own pain for the death of her Son, and a blue mantle, usual in Marian iconography as a symbol of truth and eternity. The figure shows a dynamic position, elegantly twisted, with her face tilted to one side and turned downwards, towards the faithful praying at her feet, showing herself as intercessor between God and men. It is an image of great beauty, in which an idealized but naturalistic face stands out, with large and expressive sunken eyes, drooping eyelids, long and elegant nose, and small mouth, puckered in a smile.

Formally, in this work he approaches the aesthetic precepts of the artist Bernardo Bitti, Jesuit priest and painter. He introduced Mannerism in Peru, where he went on a mission after studying in Rome. On his way to Peru, Bitti traveled through Spain, where he was influenced by Sevillian painting, especially that of Luis de Morales. Bitti arrived in Peru in 1575 and began painting for churches, first in Lima and, from 1583, in Cuzco. Among his works in Lima are La Coronación de la Virgen, typically mannerist, and La Virgen de la Candelaria for the church of San Pedro. The Immaculate Conception was a recurring theme in his paintings, one of which is in the Monastery of La Merced in Cuzco. In addition to Mannerism, his works reflect ideas of the Counter-Reformation and the religious education of the indigenous people. After 1584, Bitti traveled throughout South America. His nomadic lifestyle was a testament to his popularity among the Jesuits, but prevented him from establishing a workshop or having apprentices. Nevertheless, his influence in the region was immense and mannerism endured in South America even when it had fallen out of favor in Europe. Bitti is considered the founder of the Cuzco school of painting.