Attribué à Jacques STELLA (1596 - 1657) Lot n° 4

The Holy Family in the desert served by angels Alabaster 42 x 37 cm Accidents Stone painting, highly prized for its refinement and preciousness, was used in Italy from the 1530s onwards, reflecting the complicity between art and nature. Artists present in Rome until the 1650s developed and disseminated this production. They used the iron and manganese secretions found in marble and alabaster as motifs in their own right, combining natural and artistic creation. In the 1540s, Giorgio Vasari introduced the technique to the Medici court. Jacques Stella took up stone painting during his stay in Florence between 1616 and 1623, but it was from his move to Rome onwards that a more varied output emerged. The painter gave free rein to the white veins present in alabaster, which he sometimes accentuated with a touch of yellow. Throughout his career, Stella favored semi-precious supports, giving his work a refined character. Returning to Paris in 1635, he took on commissions from the French nobility, who were passionate about stone painting. Another painting on alabaster depicting Christ welcoming the Virgin in heaven, dated circa 1645, is similar to our work. It testifies to Stella's immense skill, and his ability to transcribe emotions onto a medium as complex as stone (see J. Thuillier, Jacques Stella (1596-1657), Metz, 2006, reproduced on p. 149).