Italian school; end of the XVII century.

Italian school; late seventeenth century.
"The Birth of the Virgin".
Oil on canvas. Relined antique.
Precise cleaning.
Measurements: 127 x 154 cm; 146 x 171 cm (frame).

This work represents the first bath of the Virgin Mary, newborn, by two servants located in the center of the scene. Despite the great prominence of the central figures, the work is enriched with a set of elements that, although seemingly unconnected, provide a narrative vision of the specific moment of the Virgin's birth. On the left, one can appreciate the bed with Saint Anne, dejected, who is being watched over by two young girls at the foot of the bed. The treatment of this area is very characteristic, since the perspective of the bed has been totally forced in relation to the rest of the scene, in such a way that it seems not to be part of it, but rather an evocation. In the right area we can see the figure of St. Joachim, leaning on his cane, contemplating his baby, and located in front of an opening that allows us to see an architectural landscape developed in depth.

The theme of the Nativity of Mary was frequently represented in art, as part of the cycles of the Life of the Virgin. These depictions, both medieval and later, are often valuable documents that provide information about the domestic interiors and customs of their time. The cycle of the Life of the Virgin spread during the Middle Ages, basing its iconography on the Gospels and, above all, on the apocrypha collected in the "Golden Legend" of Santiago de la Voragine. Anne and Joachim, Mary's parents, had been married for many years without conceiving children. In order for her conception to be immaculate, that is, without the lust of original sin, it took place when the spouses embraced at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem. According to the text, this is how St. Anne became pregnant and, nine months later, gave birth to the Virgin Mary. The birth of Mary is traditionally depicted, as we see here, as a genre scene set in a period interior. In the absence of details concerning the Virgin Birth in the Bible, art has turned to the Apocryphal Gospels for inspiration. The Protoevangelium of James provides the names of her parents (Joachim and Anne) and tells that she, barren, withdrew to fast in the desert for 40 days, where an angel appeared to her, who then communicated the news to her husband. Similar accounts are found in other texts, such as the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary and the Armenian Gospel of the Infancy.