Flemish school; Follower of Raphael de Sanzio, XVII century.

Flemish school following the model of RAFAEL DE SANZIO (Urbino, 1483 - Rome, 1520); XVII century.
"The Virgin with St. Elizabeth and St. John".
Oil on copper.
It has a frame of the seventeenth century.
Measurements: 22 x 17 cm; 35 x 27 cm (frame).
This piece is inspired by the model created by Raphael de Sanzio, entitled "Holy Family, called the Pearl, which currently belongs to the collection of the Prado Museum. The theme of the Holy Family, more reduced than that of the "Parentage of Mary" because it includes only Jesus, the Virgin and St. John or St. Anne, is very common in Christian art, also presenting a number of variants. In the case of Mary, Child and St. Joseph, it is a theme that appears already in germ in the Nativities of the Middle Ages, but is not developed and popularized until the Renaissance, spreading to a much greater extent in the Baroque thanks to the Counter-Reformation. Until the 17th century it was common for the figure of St. Joseph to appear slightly "separated" from Mary and Jesus, alluding to his role as the putative father of Christ. Since the Renaissance it was common to link the image of the Child Jesus with that of the very young St. John, visually alluding to the later relationship between the two (Baptism, Precursor, etc.), although, according to the Gospels, Christ meets St. John only when they meet at the Jordan River, before the Baptism.