Description
17th century Spanish school. Workshop of JOSÉ DE RIBERA (Xátiva, Valencia, 1591 - Naples, 1652). "Saint Francis of Assisi". Oil on canvas. Relined. Period frame. Measurements: 84,5 x 62 cm; 98 x 76 cm (frame). This remarkable representation of Saint Francis in prayer is closely related to the Saint Francis signed by José de Ribera belonging to the Masaveu collection, being also very close to the model conserved in the Sabatello collection in Rome, dated 1641, and considered a work of the master's workshop. The success of the artist and the innumerable commissions he received, especially for these works of piety, justified the creation of an extensive workshop to satisfy the demand, a workshop that produced versions following the master's originals, who sometimes participated with his masterly brushstroke in these works, creating pieces made in collaboration between the artist and the workshop; this is what Professor Nicola Spinosa suggests must have happened in this canvas: given the quality of certain details such as the tired, watery eyes or the nerves of the hands clasped on the chest, these must have been executed by the master, with a brush from his workshop finishing the composition. The saint is depicted half-length, slightly tilted, with his hands crossed on his chest in a pious pose, holding a crucifix. His gaze is raised towards the sky in an awe-inspiring attitude of spiritual recollection. The thick brushstroke defines a rounded figure of profound humanity, with great economy of colour, limited to the range of browns, which only serves to emphasise the message of humility and mystical simplicity that the saint advocated throughout his life. José de Ribera, known as the Españoleto, was a key master of the Spanish Baroque and of European art history in general. Although there are no surviving documentary sources or evidence of his youth, it is thought that he trained with Francisco Ribalta in Valencia, after which he went to Italy, first to the north and later to Rome, where he became acquainted at first hand with the classicists and the tenebrism of the Dutch who settled there. He finally settled in Naples, where he arrived in 1616. This was the beginning of his period of maturity and splendour; Ribera enjoyed fame and a large studio, and his works were disseminated throughout Europe through engravings. He worked for viceroys and high-ranking officials of Spanish origin in Naples, and many of his works soon reached Spain. He was in fact famous in his native country, and in fact Velázquez himself visited him in 1630. Today Ribera's works are housed in the Prado, the Louvre, Capodimonte, the Fine Arts Museum in Budapest, the Hermitage in St Petersburg, the Kunsthistorisches and Liechtenstein Museums in Vienna, the J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles, the Art Institute in Chicago, the Metropolitan in New York, the National Gallery and Royal Collection in London, the Borghese Gallery in Rome and other leading art galleries in Europe, America and Asia.
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17th century Spanish school. Workshop of JOSÉ DE RIBERA (Xátiva, Valencia, 1591 - Naples, 1652). "Saint Francis of Assisi". Oil on canvas. Relined. Period frame. Measurements: 84,5 x 62 cm; 98 x 76 cm (frame). This remarkable representation of Saint Francis in prayer is closely related to the Saint Francis signed by José de Ribera belonging to the Masaveu collection, being also very close to the model conserved in the Sabatello collection in Rome, dated 1641, and considered a work of the master's workshop. The success of the artist and the innumerable commissions he received, especially for these works of piety, justified the creation of an extensive workshop to satisfy the demand, a workshop that produced versions following the master's originals, who sometimes participated with his masterly brushstroke in these works, creating pieces made in collaboration between the artist and the workshop; this is what Professor Nicola Spinosa suggests must have happened in this canvas: given the quality of certain details such as the tired, watery eyes or the nerves of the hands clasped on the chest, these must have been executed by the master, with a brush from his workshop finishing the composition. The saint is depicted half-length, slightly tilted, with his hands crossed on his chest in a pious pose, holding a crucifix. His gaze is raised towards the sky in an awe-inspiring attitude of spiritual recollection. The thick brushstroke defines a rounded figure of profound humanity, with great economy of colour, limited to the range of browns, which only serves to emphasise the message of humility and mystical simplicity that the saint advocated throughout his life. José de Ribera, known as the Españoleto, was a key master of the Spanish Baroque and of European art history in general. Although there are no surviving documentary sources or evidence of his youth, it is thought that he trained with Francisco Ribalta in Valencia, after which he went to Italy, first to the north and later to Rome, where he became acquainted at first hand with the classicists and the tenebrism of the Dutch who settled there. He finally settled in Naples, where he arrived in 1616. This was the beginning of his period of maturity and splendour; Ribera enjoyed fame and a large studio, and his works were disseminated throughout Europe through engravings. He worked for viceroys and high-ranking officials of Spanish origin in Naples, and many of his works soon reached Spain. He was in fact famous in his native country, and in fact Velázquez himself visited him in 1630. Today Ribera's works are housed in the Prado, the Louvre, Capodimonte, the Fine Arts Museum in Budapest, the Hermitage in St Petersburg, the Kunsthistorisches and Liechtenstein Museums in Vienna, the J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles, the Art Institute in Chicago, the Metropolitan in New York, the National Gallery and Royal Collection in London, the Borghese Gallery in Rome and other leading art galleries in Europe, America and Asia.
