Spanish school, 19th–20th centuries ‘The Education of the Virgin Mary’

Oil on relined canvas. A religious work in the Baroque style, it depicts the education of the Virgin Mary by her parents, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne. The composition features three main figures arranged in an intimate setting within a tenebrist atmosphere. In the foreground on the right, a young Mary wears a pink tunic and a bluish mantle draped over her arm, holding an open book which she reads attentively. To her left, Saint Joachim, with a gray beard, follows the reading, his gaze directed toward the book. Behind them, emerging from the shadows of the background, Saint Anne observes the scene protectively, her head covered by a grayish veil, while in the upper center, the presence of a small cherub is suggested. The lighting of the work employs a marked chiaroscuro, projecting a focused light that highlights the faces, hands, and pages of the sacred text.

Size: 90 x 68 cm; Size with frame: 107 x 86 cm