Saint Paul
Artist
Jusepe de Ribera
(Spanish, 1591 - 1652)
Dateca. 1615-1620
Object number58.0061
Mediumoil on panel
Dimensions19 1/2 × 15 1/16 in. (49.5 × 38.3 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.
On View
Not on viewDescriptionRibera was born near Valencia, Spain, but he moved to Italy when he was young and spent the rest of his life there, becoming the most celebrated and influential painter in Naples. This small bust of Saint Paul shows how Ribera adopted Caravaggio’s strong contrasts of light and shadow, and his naturalistic use of real-life models (with gritty details such as dirty fingernails). This work is unusual for Ribera in that is painted on panel, which allows us to appreciate his masterful expressive handling of thick layers of paint in the lines on Saint Paul’s forehead.
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