the-hardest-of-hearts-survive:
Alessandro Turchi
The Virgin and Child with the Young John the Baptist
c. 1625
Oil on slate
The Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida
From ARTstor;
Alessandro Turchi painted this moving work in oil on slate, rather than canvas; the varnished slate increases the chiaroscuro (light and dark) effect, giving the figures a greater sculptural sense. Mary, Jesus, John, and Francis are composed within an isosceles triangle, a composition that dates back to the Renaissance. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) has had a vision of the Virgin Mary, and we are here witnesses to it. Turchi was influenced by Caravaggio, Guido Reni, and Annibale Caracci, to whom our painting was once ascribed.