Federazione Italiana Mercanti d'Arte

"The Holy Family: Rest During the Flight into Egypt"

Attributed to Simone Cantarini, known as "Il Pesarese" (Pesaro 1612 – Verona 1648)

"The Holy Family: Rest During the Flight into Egypt"
Oil on canvas
Bolognese School of the early 17th century
Attributed to Simone Cantarini, known as "Il Pesarese"
(Pesaro 1612 – Verona 1648)

Canvas: 112 x 74 cm
Frame: 122 x 86 cm

In very good condition

This splendid, large-scale canvas depicts the Holy Family resting on a meadow at the edge of a forest during their flight into Egypt.
A very young Virgin, her expression gentle and affectionate, presents the Child, who reaches out with open arms to receive floral offerings from two small angels.
Nearby, beneath a tree, Joseph observes the scene with a serious, pensive look, fully aware of the hardships of their journey.

On the ground lie the few modest belongings gathered before their departure from Nazareth.

The figures, positioned in the foreground and cast in soft shadow, stand out sharply against the luminous landscape behind them, creating an exceptional three-dimensional effect.

The composition is a variation of a celebrated work by Simone Cantarini, currently held at the Louvre Museum; it alters the arrangement of the three main figures and introduces the small angels, which add a lively touch to the scene.

The painting features a truly extraordinary palette, characterized by vivid reds and blues and an excellent harmony of colors, further heightened by strong chiaroscuro contrasts.

The hues remain perfectly preserved and vibrant—a testament to the artist’s use of the highest-quality pigments, materials that, due to their immense cost, were accessible only within the most prestigious workshops of the time. The attribution to Maestro Cantarini is further supported by the stylistic elegance of the work, which reflects the aesthetic of the Bolognese Baroque school—associated with Reni and the Carracci—that he absorbed during his time in the Emilian capital.



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