GIOACCHINOASSERETO Lot n° 33

Gioacchino Assereto is an early Baroque Italian painter, active in his hometown. At the age of twelve he was already in Luciano Borzone's studio (Genoa, 1590 - Milan, 1645) and then in Ansaldo's workshop. It is known that he frequented the Academy of the Nude instituted by Gian Carlo Doria in which he received the influence of important Lombard artists who will leave a Mannerist poso in its first artistic phase. Later we find in his work a naturalistic propensity inherited from the Genoese caravaggists of the landscape. This interest would make him move to Rome, where the art of the second generation Caravaggistas would not convince him. In the 1640s he devoted himself to studying Rubens and Van Dyck in depth, and as a result his painting became more lively and agitated. In addition, he introduces a great emotional implication in his works thanks to the use of lights and colours that show the knowledge of the Venetian. The oil on canvas that this cataloging occupies represents the Adoration of the shepherds. This is a very frequent Evangelical episode in Christian art. It is part of the cycle of the Nativity, it is situated immediately after the birth of Jesus and the annunciation to the shepherds. After receiving the angelic message that the Messiah is born, the shepherds go to their place of birth, typically described as a manger. In the foreground, in the bright centre of the canvas is the Child Jesus sleeping serenely in a cradle on cushions and covered by a green blanket. He has blond hair and light carnations with flushed features. Behind the protagonist we find a Virgin Mary wearing a white tunic covered by a greenish brown mantle. He brings his right hand to his chest and turns his head to his right and raises his gaze to San Jose in the upper left corner. He is represented as a bald man of advanced age with white hair and beard. He wears a greenish yellow tunic under an ochre-colored mantle and points with his right index finger to the messiah. A