Bolognese school; 17th century. Lot n° 7

Bolognese school; mid-17th century. "Immaculate Conception". Oil on copper. It presents repainting. Measurements: 29 x 21 cm. The theme of the Immaculate Conception, very frequent in art, became one of the signs of identity of the catholic countries. It is one of the most genuinely local themes in Baroque painting, given that, after the split in the church and its subsequent division into Protestants and Catholics, the representation of the mystery became common, and it was Catholicism that fought most insistently to convert it into a dogma of Faith. In this context, numerous artists and intellectuals worked to construct a clear iconography that would help to spread the Immaculate Conception, bringing together symbolism and popular fervour. This piece is part of the Bolognese Baroque school, which draws its references from Greco-Latin classicism and the early 16th-century Renaissance, especially Venetian. His style is based on the study of natural truth, of reality as a model, although in a more aesthetic and idealised manner than Caravaggio, in a clearly classical sense. This school was therefore the basis of the Classicist Baroque, and was based on the Carracci family: Annibale, his brother Agostino and his cousin Ludovico, creators of the Accademia degli Incamminati (1582), with which they tried to renew the predominantly Mannerist art of the time, which they considered to be already decadent. Annibale was the principal creator of the new style, while Agostino was important for the dissemination of models as an engraver and Ludovico was the principal master of the academy. The Carracci's painting, as we have mentioned, was the same as Caravaggio's naturalism at the outset: it was a counterpoint to the dominant trends. They reacted against Mannerism, already very repetitive, which they saw as extremely artificial. The Carracci, on the other hand, wanted to represent reality, the natural, which was precisely what had been lost in Mannerism. The protagonists of the Classicist Baroque, and therefore of the Bolognese school, did so in two ways: on the one hand, by looking at nature and painting things as they were, and on the other, by admiring the great masters, especially Correggio and the Venetians of the 16th century. From Titian they took the loose brushstrokes and themes, from Veronese the luxury, brilliance and theatricality of gesture (especially evident in compositions such as the one we present here), and from Tintoretto the chiaroscuro and a certain artificiality in the poses. His style was also defined by the classicism of Raphael and Michelangelo, whom Annibale Carracci met during his stay in Rome. They admired Michelangelo's drawing, Raphael's balance and proportions, Titian's colour, Correggio's grace... Unjustly called eclectic, the masters of the Bolognese Classicist Baroque did not copy, but created a new style inspired by what they considered to be the best of the classical past.