Flemish school; second third of the XVII century.

Flemish school; second third of the XVII century.
"Calvary".
Oil on copper.
It has an ebony wood frame with Spanish silver corner pieces.
Measurements: 36 x 28 cm; 44 x 36 cm (frame).
The artist of the present composition offers us a scene of Calvary that summarizes the Passion of Christ. We see Jesus expiring, still on the cross, with the wound in his side open and behind him Gestas and Dimas, also crucified. At the foot of the cross, we see Mary Magdalene kneeling and clinging to the cross. Behind her, the figure of St. John the Evangelist. Next to the cross, and to the left appears the Virgin who joins her hands in an attitude of pain and suffering and directs her imploring gaze to her son, who seems to dedicate the last look of his life to her. The scene is set in a contextualized exterior, since in the background several figures can be seen on the right side of the scene and the outline of a city. In addition, the presence of the good and the bad thief, which is not usual in the representation of the Calvary, provides a greater spatial amplitude to the image. It is necessary to mention the frame, which stands out for the silver corner pieces.

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 baroque school. It shows the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John at the 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, with a restrained expressiveness.