Saint Joseph with Child, 17th century painter

Work obtained from the cleaning of two overlapping paintings. A comparison can be made with the canvases of Ercole de Maria also known as Ercolino di Guido or Ercolino di Bologna from Palazzo Arcivescovile in Milan and Houston published by Pepper.

Expertise by Professor Claudio Strinati:
"The painting depicting Saint Joseph with the child (oil on canvas, 71 x 103 cm) fits very well into that tradition deriving largely from Guido Reni, who saw numerous painters active during the seventeenth century, both direct students of Reni are simple followers.

The theme of Saint Joseph with the child was much appreciated at the time, especially in the Bolognese school and constituted a beautiful example of artistic consecration of paternity in a historical period in which it had instead remained the theme of the Madonna and Child which has its origins in the Middle Ages is almost exclusive.

The painting in question here reflects well the Renian iconography and is to be referred to a very close follower of the great Emilian master, Ercole de Maria remembered by ancient sources (first of all Carlo Cesare Malvasia, the greatest biographer of Bolognese painters) as a faithful follower of Reni and a painter gifted with singular virtues (also as a copyist) which made him highly esteemed in his time.

On the basis of the information provided by the scholar, I believe I can refer our painting with certainty to Ercole de Maria, a fellow countryman but much younger than Reni, fixing its dating to just before the middle of the seventeenth century , although the dates of the artist's birth and death are not known.

The work is conducted in de Maria's typical style with lumpy and dense brushstrokes and a broad and nobly expressive stroke. The work is in an excellent state of conservation."

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