Jusepe de Ribera

1591 - 1652 • Spanish • Painter • Baroque

"Spagnoletto tainted his brush with all the blood of all the sainted." - Lord Byron, 1819

Ribera was the favorite painter of the Spanish viceroys who lived in Naples, which was then under Spanish rule. He had studied in Rome, where he absorbed CARAVAGGIO's style, and was in Naples when Caravaggio fled there in 1606 after killing a man. Ribera started a school of his own, producing religious paintings such as Saint Jerome and the Angel of Judgment (1626) which shows the intense lighting, dark background, and dramatic effect inspired by Caravaggio. Boy with a Clubfoot (1642/ 52?) is a street urchin with a grin on his face and a note in his hand that reads, "Give me alms, for the love of God." Ribera's Martyrdom of Saint Philip (c. 1630; previous! y thought to be of Saint Bartholomew) is an example of the BAROQUE taste for cruelty and bloodshed (also apparent in GUERCINO's treatment of the same subject). Justification for the horrifying scenes is the notion of mystical transcendence and ecstasy enjoyed by those who are lifted above bodily sensation in their union with God. The emotion Ribera expressed was appreciated by ROMANTIC poets like Byron, who wrote about the artist, calling him by his nickname "Spagnoletto" (Little Spaniard) in Don Juan, quoted from above. The real Don Juan, who led an uprising against the regent queen mother and put down a rebellion against Spanish rule in Naples, was painted, on horseback, by Ribera in his late, more mellow style. This Don Juan also seduced Ribera's daughter. VELAZQUEZ visited Ribera and was influenced by his countryman's work.