Jusepe de Ribera

Early biographies '', 1637, 182 x 232 cm., National Museum of San Martino His Italian biographers have many tales to tell of Ribera's stormy, picaresque career, and picture "Lo Spagnoletto's" life as an endless series of professional intrigues and rivalries, attempted poisonings due to gelosia di mestiere, conspiracies and brawls, triumphs and adversities, dramatic love affairs. Alterations of dark patches and dazzling light, glooms and raptures – just as in his paintings. Perhaps we would do better to keep to the records and established dates of Ribera's life." Jacques Lassaigne (1952) Carlo Celano, and Palomino de Castro y Velasco produced a substantial amount of information on the artist's life that is now known to be erroneous. Much of this misinformation was pervasive well into the 20th century and is occasionally still repeated today. It was long believed he was born in 1587, De Dominici saying he was from Gallipoli, Apulia while Celano stated he was from Lecce. One said he descended from nobility, and another identified his father as a Spanish army officer. Research and documents emerged in the 20th century have proven these false. and "a caricature" by another, although the latter noted a critical examination of it can still provide some insights. A gap of 20 years follows his baptism record, including information regarding his childhood, education, teachers, and when he left Spain. Marriage records show that his father, Simón, married a second time in 1597 when Jusepe was six years old, and a third time in 1607 when he was 16, suggesting some disruption and lack of continuity in Ribera youth. where artist from throughout Europe gravitated, including painters such as Gerrit van Honthorst from the Netherlands, Simon Vouet from France, Adam Elsheimer from Germany, and many others, all exploring various aspects of chiaroscuro and tenebrism in the wake of Caravaggio. The last records of the artist in Rome are a payment of promised alms to the Accademia de San Luca in May 1616, Neapolitan period (1616–1643) , 1642, oil on canvas, 164 x 94 cm. Louvre The Kingdom of Naples was part of the Spanish Empire during Ribera's lifetime, and was ruled by a succession of Spanish Viceroys. In 1616, Ribera moved to Naples permanently, in order to avoid his creditors (according to Giulio Mancini, who described him as living beyond his means despite a high income). In November, 1616, Ribera married Caterina Azzolino, the daughter of a Sicilian-born Neapolitan painter, Giovanni Bernardino Azzolino, whose connections in the Neapolitan art world helped to establish Ribera early on as a major figure whose presence was to have a lasting impact on the art of the city. Later life (1644–1652) Around 1644, his daughter married a Spanish nobleman in the administration, who died soon after. From 1644, Ribera's ill health greatly reduced his ability to work, although his workshop continued to produce works under his direction. In 1647–1648, during the uprising against Spanish rule, he and his family took refuge in the palace of the Viceroy. In 1651 he sold his home, and was in dire financial straits by the time of his death in September 1652. ==Work==

, "Bearded Lady''", 1631, Prado Museum on loan by Fundación Casa Ducal de Medinaceli His early style was influenced by the study of the Spanish and Venetian masters as well as Caravaggio and Correggio. His subject matter was notoriously gruesome, portraying human cruelty and violence with startling naturalism. In the early 1630s his style shifted from stark tenebrism to a more diffused lighting, as seen in The Clubfoot of 1642. Nearly half of Ribera's entire oeuvre consist of half-length representations of saints, apostles, philosophers, scientists, and allegorical figures. The models for these paintings were the natives from the streets of Rome and Naples, typically humble people such as fishermen, dockworkers, elderly people, and beggars, often characterized by wrinkled skin and ragged clothes, painted with a raw visual intensity. Ribera’s landscapes were recorded in 18th and 19th century inventories and have been praised in historical literature. However, it was not until the late 20th century when a pair of large canvases (127 x 269 cm.) executed in 1639, were identified in the collection of the , Salamanca, that surviving examples of his pure landscape paintings were known modern scholars. Landscapes are rare subjects in Spanish painting before the 19th century. Among the very few examples are two small oils executed by Velázquez on a visit to Italy. Contemporary historians have remarked on the originality of Ribera’s approach to the subject and noted a contrast with Roman landscape painting of the period, exemplified in the work of Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain. Art historian Alfonso Pérez Sánchez, former director of the Prado Museum, wrote that these landscapes "assure Ribera a principal place in the history of Neapolitan landscape painting" and that "Ribera has given the landscapes his own stamp: even without the signature they would be recognizable as his." He was an important etcher—indeed, the most significant Spanish printmaker before Goya—producing about forty prints, nearly all in the 1620s. Some major works include Saint Januarius Emerging from the Furnace in Naples Cathedral; the Descent from the Cross in the Certosa di San Martino, Naples; the Adoration of the Shepherds (1650) in the Louvre; the Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona; and the Pieta in the sacristy of San Martino, Naples. His mythologic subjects are often as violent as his martyrdoms, the most famous being his renditions of Apollo and Marsyas, now in Brussels and Naples, and his Tityos, now in the Museo del Prado. Alongside eleven drawings, the Prado owns fifty-six paintings and another six attributed to Ribera such as Jacob’s Dream (1639), The Martyrdom of Saint Philip (1639; often described as Saint Bartholomew due to overlapping iconography) or Saint Jerome Writing (1644), credited to him by Gianni Papi, a Caravaggio expert; the Louvre contain four of his paintings and seven drawings; the National Gallery, London owns three; and the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando owns an ensemble of five paintings including The Assumption of Mary Magdalene from El Escorial, and an early Ecce Homo or The head of St John the Baptist. ==Legacy==

Salvator Rosa and Luca Giordano were his most distinguished followers, who may have been his pupils; others were also Giovanni Do, the Flemish painter Hendrick de Somer (known in Italy as 'Enrico Fiammingo'), Michelangelo Fracanzani, and Aniello Falcone, who was the first considerable painter of battle-pieces. Ribera's work remained in fashion after his death, largely through the adoption of his hyper-naturalistic depictions of violence in the paintings of pupils like Luca Giordano. The gradual rehabilitation of his international reputation was aided by exhibitions in Princeton in 1973, of his prints and drawings, and of works in all media in London at the Royal Academy in 1982 and in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1992. Since then his oeuvre has gained more attention from critics and scholars. In 2006, a catalogue raisonné of Ribera's work was published, written by the former director of the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, Nicola Spinosa. ==Selected works==

Oil paintings History paintings (oil on canvas unless noted otherwise) File:Jusepe de Ribera - Martyrdom of St Lawrence - Google Art Project.jpg|Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, 1620–1624, 208 x 155 cm., National Gallery of Victoria File:José de Ribera - St Jerome and the Angel - WGA19365.jpg|Saint Jerome and the Angel, 1626, 262 x 164 cm., Museo di Capodimonte File:Jusepe de Ribera - Martyrdom of Saint Andrew - Google Art Project.jpg|Martyrdom of Saint Andrew, 1628. 209 x 183 cm., Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest) File:Sileno ebrio, por José de Ribera.jpg|Drunken Silenus, 1626, 185 x 229 cm., Museo di Capodimonte File:Ixion by Jusepe de Ribera (1632), 220 x 301 cm., Museo del Prado.jpg|Ixion, 1632, 220 x 301 cm., Museo del Prado File:Ribera-ticio.jpg|Tityos, 1632, 227 x 301 cm., Museo del Prado File:José de Ribera - La Piedad.jpg|Pietà, 1633, 157 x 210 cm., Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum File:Ribera - La Trinidad, P001069 (cropped).jpg|Trinity, 1635–36, 226 x 118, cm., Museo del Prado File:José de Ribera - Asunción de la Magdalena - Google Art Project.jpg|Assumption of Mary Magdalen, 1636, 256 x 193 cm., Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando File:José de Ribera - Apollo Flaying Marsyas - WGA19374.jpg|Apollo Flaying Marsyas, 1637, 202 x 255 cm., Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium File:José de Ribera 058.jpg|Pietà, 1637, 264 x 170 cm., National Museum of San Martino File:José de Ribera 048.jpg|''Jacob's Dream'', 1639, 179 × 233 cm., Museo del Prado File:José de Ribera 054.jpg|The Martyrdom of Saint Philip, 1639, 214 × 234 cm., Museo del Prado File:San Pablo Ermitaño, por José de Ribera.jpg|Saint Paul the Hermit, 1640, 143 × 143 cm., Museo del Prado File:Napoli-Ribera-San-Gennaro.jpg|San Gennaro Emerging Unharmed from the Furnace, 1641-47 copper panel, 320 x 200 cm., Royal Chapel of the Treasure of St. Januarius File:José de Ribera - Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew - Google Art Project.jpg|Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, 1644, 202 x 153 cm., Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya File:Testa del Battista - Jusepe de Ribera (Naples).jpg|Head of John the Baptist. 1646, 66 × 78 cm., Museo Civico Filangieri File:La Sagrada Familia, por José de Ribera.jpg|The Holy Family with Saint Anne and Catherine of Alexandria, 1648, 209.6 x 154.3 cm., Metropolitan Museum of Art Allegories, philosophers, apostles and saints File:Allegory of Smell Jose de Ribera.jpg|Allegory of Smell, ca. 1611–16, 115 x 88 cm., private collection File:José de Ribera 014.jpg|Allegory of Taste, ca. 1611–16, 113.5 x 88.3 cm., Wadsworth Atheneum File:José de Ribera 018.jpg|Allegory of Touch, ca. 1611–16, 116 x: 88.3 cm., Norton Simon Museum File:San Pedro Ribera (Prado).jpg|Apostle, Saint Peter, 1630–1635, 75 x 64 cm., Museo del Prado File:Ribera - San Bartolomé, P001099 (cropped).jpg|Apostle, Saint Bartholomew, 1630–1635, 77 x 64 cm., Museo del Prado File:A Philosopher LACMA M.91.125.2.jpg|Philosopher (Plato), 1637, 124.4 x 99 cm., Los Angeles County Museum of Art File:Ribera - Protagoras, 1637.jpg|Philosopher (Protagoras), 1637, 124.1 x 98.4 cm., Wadsworth Atheneum File:Ribera, Jusepe de - Aristotle - Google Art Project.jpg|Philosopher (Aristotle), 1637, 124.4 x 99 cm., Indianapolis Museum of Art File:Jusepe de Ribera - Saint Onophrius - 36.891 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg|Saint Onophrius, 1642, 129.5 x 101.3 cm., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston File:Ribera - Saint Jérôme pénitent, MNR329 (cropped).jpg|Saint Jerome in Penitence, no date, 128 x 102 cm., Louvre File:Ribera - Paulus Eremita St. Paulus, der Eremit, 1647, WRM 2553 (cropped).jpg|Saint Paul the Hermit, 1647, 130 x 103.5 cm, Wallraf–Richartz Museum File:José de Ribera 045.jpg|Saint Simeon with the Infant Jesus, 1647, 113 x 93 cm., private collection File:S. Maria Egiziaca by Jusepe de Ribera.jpg|Saint Mary of Egypt, 1651, 88 x 71 cm., Museo Civico Filangieri File:José de Ribera 011.jpg|The Penitent Saint Jerome, 1652, 77.2 × 71.8 cm., Museo del Prado Drawings File:Ribera, Study of Bat & Ears, ca. 1622, red chalk & wash,16 x 27.8 cm., Metropolitan Museum Art.jpg|Study of Bat & Ears, ca. 1622, red chalk & wash,16 x 27.8 cm., Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Ribera, Head of a Satyr, ca. 1625 –30, red chalk, 30.3 x 21.1 cm., Metropolitan Museum.jpg|Head of a Satyr, ca. 1625–30, red chalk, 30.3 x 21.1 cm., Metropolitan Museum of Art File:José de Ribera - Christ beaten by a tormentor (cropped).jpg|Christ Beaten by a Tormentor, ca. 1626, red chalk, 18.4 x 21.5 cm. British Museum File:José de Ribera - Acróbatas en la cuerda. - Google Art Project (cropped).jpg|Acrobats on a High Wire, ca. 1634–35, pen & wash, 25.7 x 19.8 cm., Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando File:Ribera - Escena fantástica caballero con hombrecillos encaramándose a su cuerpo, D008743 (cropped).jpg|Fantastic Scene, pen & ink, 18.4 x 11 cm. private collection, Madrid File:Man in a Toga MET DP800293 (cropped).jpg|Man in a Toga, 1640s, pen & wash, 21 x 10 cm., Metropolitan Museum File:Ribera - Man Bound to a Stake, 1963.24.614 (cropped).jpg|Man Bound to a Stake, 1940s, pen & wash, 21.6 x 16.3 cm. California Palace of the Legion of Honor File:Ribera, Virgin of the Crescent Moon, 1591–52, pen, ink & wash, Metropolitan.jpg|Virgin of the Crescent Moon, 1551–52, pen, ink & wash, 24 x 16.5 cm., Metropolitan Museum of Art Prints: 1616–1630 File:Jusepe de Ribera - Large Grotesque Head - Google Art Project (cropped).jpg|Large Grotesque Head, ca. 1617–27, etching, 22.3 x 15 cm. File:Jusepe de Ribera (cropped).jpg|Studies of Noses and Mouths, ca. 1622, etching, 14.7 x 22.2 cm. File:Ribera - Studies of Ears, 1986.82.jpg|Studies of Ears, 1622, etching, 14.6 x 22.2 cm. File:Ribera - Saint Jerome Listening to the Trumpet of the Last Judgment, 1927.5204.jpg|St. Jerome and the Trumpet of the Last Judgment, ca. 1621, etching & engraving, 31.5 x 23.6 cm. File:Ribera Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew.jpg|Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew, 1624, etching & engraving, 31.6 x 23.7 cm. File:Рибера Силен.jpg|Drunken Silenus, etching & engraving, 27.3 x 35.5 cm. ==Notes==