It is perhaps the best known painting by this Genoese artist, who ended his career in the service of Philip II of Spain, whose pictorial process, rather articulated, starts from a mannerist-style gigantism to arrive at an essential painting, made up of compositions almost geometric, the rigor of which is emphasized by shades limited in the range and tuned on the basis of simple chords. The cultural context that determined this nocturnal choice was its adherence to the more spiritual tendencies of the Catholic Reformation, while the domestic intonation, of great communicative impact, is aimed at promoting the sacred fact, hinging on the personal and intimate devotion of the client. . The painting (1570-1575) takes its title from the dim light of a candle that can be seen at the edge of the composition. In reality what highlights the delicate fold of Mary towards the nursing Child, the cradle that will soon welcome him as well as the gesture of Saint Anne who, having suspended the spinning, lovingly recommends silence to John and the profile of Joseph who, turned away, he is going to another room, leaving the women with the warm intimacy of this moment, he is a grazing, external, cold light. The figure of Jesus, on the other hand, is the only one that emerges completely from the half-light: his pearly flesh seems to shine with its own light, giving the humble and active scene a mystical atmosphere.
