José Ribera
Encyclopedia
Jusepe de Ribera, probably an italianization of Josep de Ribera (January 12, 1591 – September 2, 1652) was a Spanish Tenebrist
painter and printmaker, also known as José de Ribera in Spanish and as Giuseppe Ribera in Italian. He was also called by his contemporaries and early writers Lo Spagnoletto, or "the Little Spaniard". Ribera was a leading painter of the Spanish school, although his mature work was all done in Italy.
. He was baptized on February 17, 1591. His father was a shoemaker, perhaps on a large scale. His parents intended him for a literary or learned career, but he neglected these studies and is said to have apprenticed with the Spanish painter Francisco Ribalta
in Valencia, although no proof of this connection exists. Longing to study art in Italy, he made his way to Rome via Parma
, where he is recorded in 1611. According to one source, a cardinal noticed him drawing from the frescoes on a Roman palace facade, and housed him. Roman artists gave him the nickname "Lo Spagnoletto."
He became a follower of Caravaggio
's style, one of the so-called Tenebrosi, or shadow-painters, owing to the sharp contrasts of light and shade marking their style. He traveled to Parma
, where he completed a painting on the subject of Jacob's Ladder, now in the Prado Museum, Madrid. Ribera lived in Rome from 1613–16, on the Via Margutta, and associated with other Caravaggisti
, including Gerrit van Honthorst and Hendrik ter Brugghen. He then moved to Naples
, to avoid his creditors, according to Giulio Mancini
, who described him as extravagant. He may also have already arranged his marriage, to the daughter of a Neapolitan painter, Giovanni Bernardino Azzolino, in November, 1616.
was then part of the Spanish Empire, and ruled by a succession of Spanish Viceroys. Ribera's Spanish nationality aligned him with the small Spanish governing class in the city, and also with the Flemish
merchant community, from another Spanish territory, who included important collectors of and dealers in art. Ribera began to sign his work as "Jusepe de Ribera, Español" or "Jusepe de Ribera, Spaniard". He was able to quickly attract the attention of the Viceroy, the Duke of Osuna
, also recently arrived, who gave him a number of major commissions, which showed the influence of Guido Reni
.
The period after Osuna was recalled in 1620 seems to have been difficult. Few paintings survive from 1620 to 1626; but this was the period in which most of his best prints were produced. These were at least partly an attempt to attract attention from a wider audience than Naples. His career picked up in the late 1620s, and he was accepted as the leading painter in Naples thereafter. Although Ribera never returned to Spain, many of his paintings were taken back by returning members of the Spanish governing class, for example the Duke of Osuna, and his etchings were brought to Spain by dealers. His influence can be seen in Velázquez
, Murillo
, and most other Spanish painters of the period.
He has been portrayed as selfishly protecting his prosperity, and is reputed to have been the chief in the so-called Cabal of Naples, his abettors being a Greek painter, Belisario Corenzio
and the Neapolitan, Giambattista Caracciolo. It is said this group aimed to monopolize Neapolitan art commissions, using intrigue, sabotage of work in progress, and even personal threats of violence to frighten away outside competitors such as Annibale Carracci
, the Cavalier d'Arpino
, Reni
, and Domenichino. All of them were invited to work in Naples, but found the place inhospitable. The cabal ended at the time of Caracciolo's death in 1641.
According to the RKD he is listed as a pupil of Ribalta and in turn his own pupils were Enrico Fiammingo
, Francesco Fracanzano, Luca Giordano
, and Bartelomeo Passante. He was followed by Giuseppe Marullo
and he influenced the painters Agostino Beltrano
, Hendrick van Someren
, Paolo Domenico Finoglio and Pietro Novelli
.
rising against Spanish rule, he felt forced to take refuge with his family in the palace of the Viceroy for some months. In 1651 he sold the large house he had owned for many years, and when he died on September 2, 1652 he was in serious financial difficulties. His daughter had married in about 1644 a Spanish nobleman in the administration, who died soon after.
, the study of Spanish and Venetian masters can be traced. Along with his massive and predominating shadows, he retained from first to last a great strength in local coloring. His forms, though ordinary and sometimes coarse, are correct; the impression of his works gloomy and startling. He delighted in subjects of horror. In the early 1630s his style changed away from strong contrasts of dark and light to a more diffused and golden lighting, as can be seen in "The Clubfoot
" of 1642. Salvator Rosa
and Luca Giordano
were his most distinguished followers, who may have been his pupils; others were also Giovanni Do
, Enrico Fiammingo
, Michelangelo Fracanzani, and Aniello Falcone
, who was the first considerable painter of battle-pieces.
Among Ribera's principal works could be named "St Januarius Emerging from the Furnace" in the cathedral of Naples; the "Descent from the Cross" in the Certosa, Naples, the "Adoration of the Shepherds" (a late work, 1650), now in the Louvre
; the "Martyrdom of St Bartholomew" in the Prado
; and the "Pieta" in the sacristy of San Martino, Naples. His mythologic subjects are often as violent as his martyrdoms: for example, "Apollo and Marsyas
", with versions in Brussels and Naples, or the "Tityus" in the Prado . The Prado and Louvre
contain numbers of his paintings; the National Gallery, London
, three. He executed several fine male portraits and a self-portrait. He was an important etcher
, the most significant Spanish printmaker before Goya, producing about forty prints, nearly all in the 1620s.
Tenebrism
Tenebrism, from the Italian tenebroso , is a style of painting using very pronounced chiaroscuro, where there are violent contrasts of light and dark, and darkness becomes a dominating feature of the image...
painter and printmaker, also known as José de Ribera in Spanish and as Giuseppe Ribera in Italian. He was also called by his contemporaries and early writers Lo Spagnoletto, or "the Little Spaniard". Ribera was a leading painter of the Spanish school, although his mature work was all done in Italy.
Early life
Ribera was born near Valencia, Spain at XàtivaXàtiva
Xàtiva is a town in eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, on the right bank of the river Albaida and at the junction of the Valencia–Murcia and Valencia Albacete railways....
. He was baptized on February 17, 1591. His father was a shoemaker, perhaps on a large scale. His parents intended him for a literary or learned career, but he neglected these studies and is said to have apprenticed with the Spanish painter Francisco Ribalta
Francisco Ribalta
Francesc Ribalta , also known as Francisco Ribaltá or de Ribalta, was a Spanish painter of the Baroque period, mostly of religious subjects.He was born in Solsona, Lleida...
in Valencia, although no proof of this connection exists. Longing to study art in Italy, he made his way to Rome via Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, where he is recorded in 1611. According to one source, a cardinal noticed him drawing from the frescoes on a Roman palace facade, and housed him. Roman artists gave him the nickname "Lo Spagnoletto."
He became a follower of Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
's style, one of the so-called Tenebrosi, or shadow-painters, owing to the sharp contrasts of light and shade marking their style. He traveled to Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, where he completed a painting on the subject of Jacob's Ladder, now in the Prado Museum, Madrid. Ribera lived in Rome from 1613–16, on the Via Margutta, and associated with other Caravaggisti
Caravaggisti
The Caravaggisti were stylistic followers of the 16th century Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. His influence on the new Baroque style that eventually emerged from Mannerism was profound. Caravaggio never established a workshop as most other painters did, and thus had no...
, including Gerrit van Honthorst and Hendrik ter Brugghen. He then moved to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, to avoid his creditors, according to Giulio Mancini
Giulio Mancini
Giulio Mancini was a noted physician, art collector and writer on a range of subjects.A native of Siena, he came to Rome in 1592 and quickly made a brilliant medical career, becoming personal physician to pope Urban VIII in 1623....
, who described him as extravagant. He may also have already arranged his marriage, to the daughter of a Neapolitan painter, Giovanni Bernardino Azzolino, in November, 1616.
Neapolitan period
The Kingdom of NaplesKingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
was then part of the Spanish Empire, and ruled by a succession of Spanish Viceroys. Ribera's Spanish nationality aligned him with the small Spanish governing class in the city, and also with the Flemish
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
merchant community, from another Spanish territory, who included important collectors of and dealers in art. Ribera began to sign his work as "Jusepe de Ribera, Español" or "Jusepe de Ribera, Spaniard". He was able to quickly attract the attention of the Viceroy, the Duke of Osuna
Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna
Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna was a Spanish nobleman and politician. He was the 2nd Marquis of Peñafiel, 7th Count of Ureña, Spanish Viceroy of Sicily , Viceroy of Naples , a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece since 1608, Grandee of Spain, member of the Spanish Supreme...
, also recently arrived, who gave him a number of major commissions, which showed the influence of Guido Reni
Guido Reni
Guido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...
.
The period after Osuna was recalled in 1620 seems to have been difficult. Few paintings survive from 1620 to 1626; but this was the period in which most of his best prints were produced. These were at least partly an attempt to attract attention from a wider audience than Naples. His career picked up in the late 1620s, and he was accepted as the leading painter in Naples thereafter. Although Ribera never returned to Spain, many of his paintings were taken back by returning members of the Spanish governing class, for example the Duke of Osuna, and his etchings were brought to Spain by dealers. His influence can be seen in Velázquez
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
, Murillo
Bartolomé Estéban Murillo
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children...
, and most other Spanish painters of the period.
He has been portrayed as selfishly protecting his prosperity, and is reputed to have been the chief in the so-called Cabal of Naples, his abettors being a Greek painter, Belisario Corenzio
Belisario Corenzio
Belisario Corenzio was an Italian Mannerist painter, a Greek by birth. He is reputed, with little documentation, to have studied under Tintoretto, in part because his drawings often resemble those of the Venetian painter...
and the Neapolitan, Giambattista Caracciolo. It is said this group aimed to monopolize Neapolitan art commissions, using intrigue, sabotage of work in progress, and even personal threats of violence to frighten away outside competitors such as Annibale Carracci
Annibale Carracci
Annibale Carracci was an Italian Baroque painter.-Early career:Annibale Carracci was born in Bologna, and in all likelihood first apprenticed within his family...
, the Cavalier d'Arpino
Giuseppe Cesari
Giuseppe Cesari was an Italian Mannerist painter, also named Il Giuseppino and called Cavaliere d'Arpino, because he was created Cavaliere di Cristo by his patron Pope Clement VIII. He was much patronized in Rome by both Sixtus V.-Biography:Cesari's father had been a native of Arpino, but...
, Reni
Guido Reni
Guido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...
, and Domenichino. All of them were invited to work in Naples, but found the place inhospitable. The cabal ended at the time of Caracciolo's death in 1641.
According to the RKD he is listed as a pupil of Ribalta and in turn his own pupils were Enrico Fiammingo
Enrico Fiammingo
Enrico Fiammingo was a Flemish painter of the Baroque, active mainly in Italy. He initially began as a pupil of Jusepe Ribera in Naples, but then became a follower of Guido Reni in Bologna...
, Francesco Fracanzano, Luca Giordano
Luca Giordano
Luca Giordano was an Italian late Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain....
, and Bartelomeo Passante. He was followed by Giuseppe Marullo
Giuseppe Marullo
Giuseppe Marullo was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active near his natal city of Orta. He was a pupil of Massimo Stanzione.-References:...
and he influenced the painters Agostino Beltrano
Agostino Beltrano
Agostino Beltrano was an Italian painter active in the Baroque period in his native city of Naples. He was a pupil of Massimo Stanzione, the uncle of his wife...
, Hendrick van Someren
Hendrick van Someren
Hendrick van Someren, or Somer , was a Dutch Golden Age painter.-Biography:According to Houbraken he was the son of the "van Zomeren" who took in the young Adriaen Brouwer after he fled Frans Hals' workshop to try his luck in Amsterdam...
, Paolo Domenico Finoglio and Pietro Novelli
Pietro Novelli
Pietro Novelli was an Italian painter of the Baroque period,active mainly in Palermo. Also known as il Monrealese or Pietro "Malta" Novelli to distinguish him from his father, Pietro Antonio Novelli....
.
Later life
From 1644, Ribera seems to have suffered serious ill-health, which greatly reduced his ability to work himself, although his workshop continued to produce. In 1647-8, during the MasanielloMasaniello
Masaniello was a Neapolitan fisherman, who became leader of the revolt against Spanish Habsburg rule in Naples in 1647.-Name and place of birth:...
rising against Spanish rule, he felt forced to take refuge with his family in the palace of the Viceroy for some months. In 1651 he sold the large house he had owned for many years, and when he died on September 2, 1652 he was in serious financial difficulties. His daughter had married in about 1644 a Spanish nobleman in the administration, who died soon after.
Work
In his earlier style, founded sometimes on Caravaggio and sometimes on the wholly diverse method of CorreggioAntonio da Correggio
Antonio Allegri da Correggio , usually known as Correggio, was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sensuous works of the 16th century...
, the study of Spanish and Venetian masters can be traced. Along with his massive and predominating shadows, he retained from first to last a great strength in local coloring. His forms, though ordinary and sometimes coarse, are correct; the impression of his works gloomy and startling. He delighted in subjects of horror. In the early 1630s his style changed away from strong contrasts of dark and light to a more diffused and golden lighting, as can be seen in "The Clubfoot
The Clubfoot
The Clubfoot is a 1642 oil on canvas painting by Jusepe de Ribera. It is housed in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, and was painted in Naples.Commissioned by a Flemish dealer, the painting features a Neapolitan beggar boy with a deformed foot...
" of 1642. Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa was an Italian Baroque painter, poet and printmaker, active in Naples, Rome and Florence. As a painter, he is best known as an "unorthodox and extravagant" and a "perpetual rebel" proto-Romantic.-Early life:...
and Luca Giordano
Luca Giordano
Luca Giordano was an Italian late Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain....
were his most distinguished followers, who may have been his pupils; others were also Giovanni Do
Giovanni Do
Giovanni Do was a Spanish painter, active in Naples.He was born in the town of Jatiba, near Valencia in Spain. By 1626 Do was in Naples, and that year he married Grazia, sister of Paceco de Rosa; the marriage contract describes him as Spanish and gives Giovanni Battista Caracciolo and fellow...
, Enrico Fiammingo
Enrico Fiammingo
Enrico Fiammingo was a Flemish painter of the Baroque, active mainly in Italy. He initially began as a pupil of Jusepe Ribera in Naples, but then became a follower of Guido Reni in Bologna...
, Michelangelo Fracanzani, and Aniello Falcone
Aniello Falcone
Aniello Falcone was an Italian Baroque painter, active in Naples and noted for his painted depictions of battle scenes.-Biography:...
, who was the first considerable painter of battle-pieces.
Among Ribera's principal works could be named "St Januarius Emerging from the Furnace" in the cathedral of Naples; the "Descent from the Cross" in the Certosa, Naples, the "Adoration of the Shepherds" (a late work, 1650), now in the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
; the "Martyrdom of St Bartholomew" in the Prado
Museo del Prado
The Museo del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It features one of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and unquestionably the best single collection of...
; and the "Pieta" in the sacristy of San Martino, Naples. His mythologic subjects are often as violent as his martyrdoms: for example, "Apollo and Marsyas
Marsyas
In Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas is a central figure in two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the double flute that had been abandoned by Athena and played it; in the other, he challenged Apollo to a contest of music and lost his hide and life...
", with versions in Brussels and Naples, or the "Tityus" in the Prado . The Prado and Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
contain numbers of his paintings; the National Gallery, London
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
, three. He executed several fine male portraits and a self-portrait. He was an important etcher
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
, the most significant Spanish printmaker before Goya, producing about forty prints, nearly all in the 1620s.
Further reading
- Brown, Jonathan. (1973). Jusepe de Ribera: prints and drawings; [catalogue of an exhibition] The Art Museum, Princeton University, October–November 1973. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University. the standard work on his prints and drawings.
- Williamson, Mark A. "The Martyrdom Paintings of Jusepe de Ribera: Catharsis and Transformation"; PhD Dissertation, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York 2000 (available online at myspace.com/markwilliamson13732)