Spanish school, s. XVIII. Lot n° 13

Spanish school of the first half of the 18th century. "Saint Luke painting the Holy Family". Oil on canvas. Relined. Size: 75 x 62 cm; 91 x 78 cm (frame). The work in question derives from the Lukas-Madonna theme (Saint Luke portraying or painting the Virgin), although on this occasion Saint Luke does not portray only Mary with the Child, but immortalises the whole Holy Family. St Luke, the Evangelist who is assigned the role of painter (and the patron saint of painters), takes sketches from life on a canvas in which the figures of Joseph, the Virgin, the Child and even a little angel hovering above their heads are already visible. This subject was very common during the Renaissance when chapels dedicated to Saint Luke were founded in many European churches, and in some cases a painting of this subject was even required as a masterpiece (the one required to be admitted as a master in the guild). Next to the Evangelist is depicted a calf or ox, an attribute of Saint Luke as the sacrificial animal (his Gospel begins with the account of Zechariah, the priest, father of Saint John the Baptist).