(Naples circa 1719–1777)
Saint Anne and the Christ Child, with Saint Joseph, Saint Joachim, the Madonna and Saint John the Baptist,
signed lower right: DCaro,
oil on canvas, 129 x 181 cm, framed

The present work, unpublished and apparently never replicated by the artist, displays Lorenzo De Caro’s characteristic stylistic traits as an artist: figures of large proportions, characterized by bold brushstrokes and defined by a lively chiaroscuro that enhances the usual chromatic range of colours used by De Caro.

The composition represents the Holy Family with Mary, Saint Joseph and the Christ Child and the elderly Saints Joachim and Anne with the Infant Saint John, accompanied by a group of cherubs on the right. The painter skillfully weaves the six characters into a harmonic composition based on two pyramids that intersect, one upwards and the other downwards, entangled in intrapersonal relationships between the protagonists of the picture. In the center is Saint Anne, on whose lap sits the Christ Child. The old woman smiles at the Child who turns to her. Flanking him on the right stands Saint Joseph with the flowering rod, and on the opposite side, the young Madonna touches the shoulder of John the Baptist, Joachim is located at the bottom left and holds a lamb.

The subject allows the artist to portray characters of the various ages in line with the taste of Neapolitan popular representation. Anne is not portrayed with grandeur, but she is depicted as a common woman. In the same way, Saint John the Baptist is depicted as a grinning child.

We are grateful to Riccardo Lattuada for his help in cataloguing this lot