Circle by ISIDORO DE TAPIA (Valencia, 1712 - Madrid, 1778).
"The Virgin with Saint Joachim and Saint Anne".
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 28 x 22,5 cm.
The Christian tradition has considered Joachim and Anne as the progenitors of Mary. These names are taken from the Protoevangelium of Santiago, one of the most famous and ancient apocryphal gospels. The present work shows Mary as a child at the centre of a symmetrical composition, flanked by her parents, looking up to the heavenly plane, where the dove appears as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
According to Ceán Bermúdez, the Valencian painter Isidoro de Tapia trained with Evaristo Muñoz. In Valencia he executed several works commissioned by the public, and in 1743 he moved to Madrid. He joined the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, where he was appointed a meritorious academician in 1755. It is thought that he also spent some time working in Portugal. He taught drawing at the Academy until his death, and also worked for the Royal Stables of the Royal Palace. Although few signed works by his hand are known, Ismael Gutiérrez Pastor compiled a small catalogue of twenty-eight works that provide an insight into the personality of this painter, and also reconstructed his life from known and unpublished documents. Works by Isidoro de Tapia are currently held in the San Fernando Academy and other collections.