Religious Subject Oil on Canvas Italy XVII Century

Oil painting on canvas.
Lombard school of the seventeenth century.
First canvas and mounted on original frame.
The painting, in particular octagonal shape, probably forming part of a series of sacred scenes, proposes the mystical contemplation of the Crucifix by two saints.
The Cross, placed on a marble altar, is mounted on a richly worked bronze base, with the statue of St.
Sebastian pierced by arrows in the center and two little angels on the sides, bearing the palm of martyrdom and other arrows.
On the sides of the Cross, suspended on two clouds, because they are part of the mystical vision, the figures of Mary and John, as narrated by the Gospel.
On the sides the two saints who contemplate: on the left Sant'Ambrogio, recognizable by the bishop's clothes but above all by the scourge on his feet, an unmistakable attribute, which he, according to tradition, waved threatening against the enemies of the faith, to defend from any attack that people who was entrusted to him.
On the right is St.
Francis Xavier, the young Jesuit who shared the foundation of the Society of Jesus with Ignatius of Loyola and was a missionary in the East, who is dressed in a priestly habit, a hat and a pilgrim; at his feet you can see a stick, presumably that of the pilgrim.
The painting needs cleaning and restoration for some small cuts.