Attribué à Giovanni Stefano Danedi, dit MONTALTO... Lot 15

Attribué à Giovanni Stefano Danedi, dit MONTALTO (Treviglio, 1608 - Milan, 1690) THE PIETÀ WITH THE PUTTI Canvas Old restorations Unframed 150 x 210 cm Dressed in a red dress under her blue mantle, the Virgin brings the only touch of bright colors to the painting. She is in the center of the composition, her face turned towards the angels, as can also be seen in another Pietà painted by Montalto for the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Brughiera in Biassano and now kept in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan (fig. 1). Our artist Giovanni Montalto, who was then one of the most prized painters by his contemporaries, had made a specialty of putti and puttini, connoted in a sacred or profane sense. In these two works, which are similar to the Pietà of Dijon (fig. 2) and the Dead Christ of Verona, Giovanni Stefano Montalto has highlighted the side of Christ. The figure of St. John is cut in half. He appears almost naked. The triptych composition of our painting introduces a narrative dynamic here. On the left, the open landscape on Golgotha evokes the past Calvary. On the right, the cherubs announce his Ascension to the Kingdom of Heaven.