Roman school of the 17th century. School of ANIBALE CARRACCI (Bologna, 1560 - Rome, 1609)."Holy Family with Saint Francis of Assisi supported by an angel".Oil on canvas. Relined.Provenance: Baron of Maldá.Measurements: 49 x 37 cm; 68 x 55 cm (frame).In this work we see a representation of the Holy Family following the naturalistic modes typical of the Roman school of the 17th century, more specifically of the models of the Carracci. It is a composition which, as in other representations of the theme, includes the three essential persons who form it -Jesus and his parents- but in this one, in addition, two more figures are added, an angel and Saint Francis of Assisi. In the foreground, with an arcade in the background, the artist has four of the five figures in the composition, but places Saint Joseph in the background, in the background on the right. The mere grouping and arrangement of the figures in the space expresses a whole iconographic content, including the hierarchy of the figures. St Joseph, the putative father, is relegated to the background (under the justification that he is resting after his possible activity as a carpenter) and the foreground is reserved for Jesus and Mary, who are in turn the axis of the group to which the other figures are subordinated. It is worth noting the attitude of these figures: while the Virgin carries the child Jesus on her lap, he addresses the angel with a very humanised attitude. The angel observes him attentively as he comforts Saint Francis, who brings his hands close to his heart. After the mystical experience of stigmatisation, St Francis is said to have been comforted by an angel. The theme of angelic consolation became very popular in Italian painting from the second half of the 16th century, a theme that artists such as Orazio Gentileschi treated during the early years of the 17th century, where the compositional parallelism is evident and could serve as an inspiration for the compositional resolution of the present work.From the arrangement of the composition and the treatment of the figures, this work can be related to the Carracci's production. At the beginning of the 17th century, while Caravaggio was breaking away from Mannerist and even Renaissance conventions, a new approach to painting was emerging in Bologna under the guidance of Carracci, commonly known as "eclecticism". It sought to integrate the best of each master, especially Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Veronese and Correggio. However, Annibale Carracci's personality led him to evolve towards a highly personal classicism that did not disdain certain Caravaggiesque achievements.