Mateo Cerezo

J.R. Buendía and I.G. Pastor, Vida y Obra Del Pintor Mateo Cerezo, Burgos 1968, p. 135, cat. no. 38, reproduced.

The canvas is unlined. There are some small scattered retouched losses in the darker tones along the lower margin. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals one restored right-angle tear, upper right, measuring 3 by 3 inches.; a curved restored scratch on the knee of the Virgin, 4 1/2 in.; and strengthenings along the stems of the flowers clutched by the putti. The figures of the Virgin and the putti remain largely untouched. In excellent overall condition. Offered in a carved gilt wood frame in good condition.
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Mateo Cerezo was only seventeen when he moved from his native Burgos to Madrid to study with the court painter Juan Carreño de Miranda (1614-1685). He quickly became a highly proficient artist, in demand from a large and diverse clientele. Carreño exposed his pupil to the work of great masters such as Rubens, Van Dyck and Titian, whose influence we see in the complex composition and refined draughtsmanship of Cerezo’s style. Buendía and Pastor date this painting to 1661-62, and record two copies by Antonio Carnicero (see literature). This painting is related to a second smaller version on copper (72.5 x 56 cm) with some variations in the details, in The Hermitage, St. Petersburg (inv. no. ET-1456) and the figure of the Madonna is seemingly based on a ink wash drawing in the Babra Collection, Barcelona.¹

1. See J.R. Buendía and I.G. Pastor, Vida y Obra Del Pintor Mateo Cerezo, Burgos 1968, p. 215, cat. no. AD-1, reproduced.