PEDRO ANASTASIO BOCANEGRA (Granada, 1638 - 1689)."Virgin and Child".Oil on canvas.Signed in the

PEDRO ANASTASIO BOCANEGRA (Granada, 1638 - 1689).
"Virgin and Child".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Size: 82 x 65 cm; 106 x 90 cm (frame).
In this work the Virgin with the Child is presented following the usual forms within the devotional painting of the Spanish Baroque: Mary appears half-length with the Child in her arms, in the foreground and on a neutral, dark background, on which the figures stand out voluminous and directly illuminated. The painting corresponds to the subject matter, composition and technique of Pedro Atanasio, strongly influenced by Alonso Cano and Van Dyck. The love between mother and son is emphasised through a naturalistic and tender representation, with the two figures joining heads.
Pedro Atanasio de Bocanegra, a disciple of Alonso Cano, Pedro Moya and Juan de Sevilla, became the most active artist in his native city in the 1660s. His first known work was the decorations for the Corpus Christi festivities in his native city in 1661. During the following years we find commissions such as the series of canvases he executed between 1665 and 1666 for the cloister of the convent of Nuestra Señora de Gracia, now lost; or the numerous paintings, including the "Conversion of Saint Paul", which he painted between 1668 and 1672 for the altar of the college of the Society of Jesus, now the church of Saints Justo and Pastor (in situ). At the same time he was commissioned to decorate the Carthusian monastery in Granada with large scenes from the life of the Virgin, a set that includes two works now in the Museo del Prado: "Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Bernard" and "The Virgin and Saint Peter handing over the rule to some Carthusian friars". He was also appointed painter to the cathedral. After this period he went to Seville in 1686, and from there he left for the court of Madrid, where he was protected by Don Pedro de Toledo, Marquis of Mancera. Thanks to the influence of his protector, Bocanegra was awarded the title of painter to the king "ad honorem" for his painting "Allegory of Justice", inspired by a Venetian print of the mid-16th century and now in the Royal Academy of San Fernando. Other surviving works of his include "The Adoration of the Eucharist" (Góngoras convent, Madrid), several portraits of members of the Trinitarian order (Palace of Charles V, Granada), as well as those in the Prado: several paintings depicting the Virgin and Child and various saints, and "The Triumph of David". After his stay in Madrid Pedro Bocanegra returned to Granada, where he met the painter and architect Teodoro de Ardemans, who painted his portrait on a canvas in the archiepiscopal palace of Granada. Bocanegra developed a style close to that of his master Cano and was admired for the great charm of his religious images, which are depicted with great delicacy. His weakness in drawing was compensated for by a pleasing, highly detailed colouring, which demonstrates his interest in contemporary Flemish art, especially that of Anton van Dyck. In addition to the aforementioned art galleries and religious centres, works by this master can now be found in the Zaragoza Museum, the Goya Museum in Castres, the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art in Vitoria and the Fine Arts Museum in Granada, as well as in various private collections.