Spanish school; first half of the 18th century.

Spanish school; first half of the 18th century.
"The Adoration of the Magi".
Oil on canvas.
It has a frame of the nineteenth century.
Measurements: 77 x 58 cm; 101 x 81 cm (frame).
In this painting, an oil on canvas of devotional type, destined to an altar or chapel, we see the adoration of the Magi, with a composition of classic type closed on the left side and open to landscape on the right, centered in the foreground and with a skillful work of the lights, that emphasize the white figures, almost pearly, of the Virgin and the Child, whose figure is emphasized by the sparkle that emits the light of the star of the East.
In Spain, the change from the XVII to the XVIII century was not a break with the previous tradition, but a continuation of it. In 1768 the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos was created, and this institution will determine a change towards a classicism of baroque roots. Through it, young artists were trained by José Vergara, Manuel Monfort, José Camarón, Vicente Marzo, Vicente López and Mariano Salvador Maella. On the other hand, the economic recovery will result in a thriving industrial and commercial bourgeoisie, which will seek to distinguish itself socially through artistic patronage. At the same time, the Church was losing its monopoly as the only client of the artists. All this will determine a definitive change in taste, and also in the genres treated: religious painting will now coexist with bourgeois portraiture, still life, landscape, historical and mythological themes and genre painting.