Spanish school; second third of the XVI century.

Spanish school; second third of the XVI century.
"Calvary".
Oil on panel.
Presents faults.
Measurements: 103 x 85 cm; 108 x 89 cm (frame).
Devotional table with the representation of Calvary. The Virgin Mary and St. John flank the spiraling body of Christ. The lights, defined by fiery iridescence that jasper the sky, express the pathos of the moment. However, the biblical figures remain hieratic in their gestures and idealized in their features. Indeed, the expressiveness is concentrated in the chromatic palette, standing out the carmine red of the saint's mantle and the blue plasticity of the Marian mantle. An intense contrast of light leaves the background in semi-darkness and falls on the body of Christ, modeled in his naked flesh except for the cloth of purity.
Due to the technical characteristics, such as the modeling of the forms, the tonalities used, the type of composition, and even the aesthetic details used in the treatment of the fabrics that make up the scene, this work can be inscribed within the Renaissance school. It shows the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John at her feet, an iconographic form evolved from the original Byzantine Déesis, which represented Christ in Majesty accompanied by Mary and St. John the Baptist. In Western art, the representation of Christ on the cross will be preferred, as a narrative scene, and the figure of St. John the Baptist will be replaced by that of John the Evangelist. Another significant change, which seeks greater naturalism, is that while in the Byzantine model both the Virgin and St. John have their faces raised or oriented towards Christ, with their hands in a position of supplication on behalf of humanity, here they are shown mourning in the classical manner.