Majorcan school; XVII century. Lot n° 31

Majorcan school; XVII century. "The Virgin with a border of flowers". Oil on canvas. Relined. Presents faults and repainting. It has faults in the frame. Measurements: 86.5 x 66 cm; 101 x 79 cm (frame). In the center of a detailed border of flowers, the figure of the Virgin is inscribed. This one directs its look to the sky, and crosses its arms on the chest in attitude of clemency and devotion, characteristic gestures of the Marian representations. The golden background monumentalizes the figure of the protagonist, who wears tunic and mantle with the usual colors; red and blue in allusion to the passion of Christ, sacrifice and universality, values typical of Christianity. It is worth mentioning the border of flowers, which stands out for its variety, color and fidelity to reality. One of the flowers that can be appreciated is a tulip, a very appreciated flower during the baroque period, which was considered a rarity. This profusion of the border invites to connect the image with the splendor of the Majorcan school, in this artistic genre. The Mallorcan school of still lifes shows a strong influence of the Valencian school, although it had its own personality and must have enjoyed a certain importance, given the number of works that have survived to the present day. It developed mainly from the late seventeenth century and during the eighteenth century, from the appearance of the figure of Guillermo Mesquida (1625-1747), which will raise the level of Mallorcan painting. He was the most famous painter of the Balearic Baroque and absolute dominator of the artistic panorama between the end of the XVII and the first half of the XVIII. He was an excellent painter of still lifes, although we do not preserve today not a single one of them that we can attribute to him with absolute certainty. His biographers indicate that he was a disciple in Rome of the Italian Carlos Marata, a painter who had great influence in the development of still life, since he collaborated with numerous specialists of this genre. Mesquida represented in his works fruits, animals and flowers, and founded in Mallorca a workshop in which numerous works would be made, some of which are still preserved today. His style would have been characterized by a great chromatic richness and a clear ostentatiousness and abundance of fruit and floral elements, traits that his followers of the Majorcan school would inherit, as can be seen in this canvas. Thanks to Mesquida's influence, the Mallorcan still life painters picked up Italian elements, especially Neapolitan and Roman, always combined with the influence of the Valencian school.