Circle of JOSÉ DE RIBERA (Xátiva, Valencia, 1591 - Naples, 1652).
"Saint".
Oil on canvas glued to panel.
It has restorations.
It has slight air bubbles caused by the adhesion of the canvas to the board.
Measurements: 39,2 x 27,8 cm; 48 x 37 cm (frame).
In this portrait we can appreciate the author's taste for veracity, as the face of the protagonist has been painted with great naturalism. The work represents the bust of a mature man, arranged on a neutral background. The face is the absolute protagonist of the work, magnificently modelled through a skilful use of light and shade, with appropriate contrasts that enhance the plasticity of the features. The gaze is the focus of our attention, and it is reflected with a veracity typical of a careful study of life.
The treatment of light and the workmanship of the piece bring this work closer to the artistic circle of José de Ribera, a key painter who belonged to the generation of the great masters of the Golden Age, trained in Italy as a self-taught artist. He first came into contact with naturalism when he arrived in Rome in 1615, where he came into contact with the Nordic Caravaggists, from whom he adopted the smooth, hurried technique, ugliness and rigorous drawing, characteristics that shaped his style during his Roman period. However, in 1616 he moved to Naples and settled there permanently. In Naples Ribera became the leader of the group of Neapolitan naturalists and an important circle of painters grew up around him. Despite his stay in Italy, Ribera sent numerous works to Spain, and his language would play a key role in the development of the Baroque in our country. His work would bring tenebrism and, later, the full Baroque, long before the latter arrived directly in Spain, thus influencing the new generations of painters. On the other hand, once his Roman period was over, his painting was characterised by a very loose, Venetian-influenced brushstroke, which also marked the work of his followers. Thus, Ribera's school developed a style of dramatic, contrasting, clearly tenebrist lighting, which is nevertheless tinged by a Venetian brushstroke that is impastoed and fluid. Thus, here we see an artificial, directed spotlight that penetrates the scene from the upper right corner and directly illuminates the saint's face and hands, leaving the rest in semi-darkness. And we also find that totally modern brushstroke that models the saint by means of the light, that touch of pasty, expressive brushwork that the artist learned directly from Ribera's work.