CHRIST ATTENDED BY ANGELS, Lombard School, circa 1600

oil on panel
13 1/4 by 16 1/2 in.; 33.6 by 41.9 cm.

Provenance:
Painted on a walnut panel, this lively depiction of Christ being attended by angels in the wilderness was painted by a Lombard artist in the late 16th or early 17th Century. The subject, which is relatively rare, derives from a cursory reference in the gospel of Matthew (4:11) at the end of Christ's temptation in desert, when "angels came and attended him." In this painting, they are laying out a table for Christ to break his fast of 40 days; a small angel at right brings in a plate with an artichoke while a cherub above is holding bottles of oil and vinegar to dress it. In the far distance at left, the figures of Christ and Satan are seen on a mountaintop, enacting the earlier narrative of the scripture.