Andalusian school; second half of the 17th century."Virgin and Child".Oil on canvas.Measurements: 103 x 83 cm; 112 x 92 cm (frame).Devotional scene of great tenderness where the author has placed the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, inscribed in an oval border, which helps to emphasize even more their presence. The composition of the scene follows the patterns established by the history of art in the representation of this theme. It is worth noting that in both cases, both Mary and the Child look directly at the viewer, making him a participant in the relationship between the two, and at the same time, with the seriousness of the face, showing the baby's destiny.The 17th century saw the arrival of the Baroque in the Andalusian school, with the triumph of naturalism over Mannerist idealism, a loose style and many other aesthetic liberties. At this time the school reached its greatest splendour, both in terms of the quality of its works and the primordial status of Sevillian Baroque painting. Thus, during the transition to the Baroque period, we find Juan del Castillo, Antonio Mohedano and Francisco Herrera el Viejo, whose works already display the rapid brushstrokes and crude realism of the style, and Juan de Roelas, who introduced Venetian colourism. The middle of the century saw the fullness of the period, with figures such as Zurbarán, a young Alonso Cano and Velázquez. Finally, in the last third of the century we find Murillo and Valdés Leal, founders in 1660 of an Academy where many of the painters active during the first quarter of the 18th century were trained, such as Meneses Osorio, Sebastián Gómez, Lucas Valdés and others.