Scuola del Perugino (XVIII), After - Venere orante

A devotional painting of notable elegance, depicting the Virgin in half-length with hands joined, lowered gaze, a red dress and a dark mantle outlined in gold. The figure emerges against a uniform background, with a severe yet gentle construction of the face, imbued with an ideal of Renaissance composure.

Stylistic and iconographic analysis suggests with good conviction a placement within Italian painting of the 18th century, with references to the figurative culture of central Italy and to the long fortune of Umbrian and Peruginesque models. The proposed framing constitutes the cataloging basis of this entry and can be further refined through in-person specialist examination.

The quality of the execution, especially in the face and hands, appears superior to mere decorative serial production: the modelling is controlled, tonal transitions are soft, and the rendering of the fingers, nails, and flesh tones reveals an expert painterly hand. These aspects constitute one of the main elements of interest of the work.

The dating to the 18th century is considered highly probable on the basis of the characteristics of the painting surface, the craquelure, the conservation history, and family tradition. According to the current owner's direct memory, an eighteenth-century chronology had already been indicated at the time of the conservation intervention carried out in Milan about twenty years ago.