Tomás Yepes or Hiepes (Valencia, 1598 - 1674) Lot n° 26

Tomás Yepes or Hiepes (Valencia, 1598 - 1674) Vase with fruits and birds in a landscape'. Oil on canvas. Signed 'T.HIEPES F.'. On the back, it has marks of the collection of the Marquis of Mancera, CDTP, D-D-A-S-D Tº S- DUX -GEN. 75 x 100.5 cm. Tomás Yepes, who also signed his work as Tomás Hiepes, was 'the most outstanding still-life painter in Valencian Baroque painting', according to the Prado Museum. His work is known from 1642 until the year of his death. His specialisation in still lifes was, in fact, unusual in his artistic context, for while 'other contemporary artists established in Valencia devoted themselves to painting religious themes, Yepes specialised in still-life painting, producing vases, kitchen still lifes, still lifes of fruit, sideboards, sweet things, landscapes with animals and, in general, all kinds of still lifes that fit well within the artistic environment of early Valencian naturalism, with intense effects of chiaroscuro and within the aesthetics of tenebrism', as stated by the Spanish Royal Academy of History. As can be seen in our work, the master opted for an orderly, symmetrical presentation which was to be seen throughout his career. He probably had contacts with Castile, since, as Herbert González reports in the RAH, much of his early work is reminiscent of 'the style of Castilian still life painters, particularly Jan van der Hamen and Alejandro Loarte'. The Prado Museum houses more than a dozen still lifes, vases and landscapes by our artist. Provenance: Collection of the II Marquis of Mancera and Viceroy of Mexico, Don Antonio Sebastián de Toledo Molina y Salazar (Madrid, 1608 - 13.II.1715).Appointed by King Philip IV in 1663 Viceroy of New Spain, a position he held from 1664 to 1673. Works as important as the inlaid trunk of Villa Alta (Oaxaca, New Spain) belonged to the same collection of the Marquises of Mancera and at his death of his daughter Dª María Luisa de Toledo. As Andrés Gutiérrez Usillos indicates, 'The people that moved to American lands, especially the high positions of the viceregal administration, took with them diverse works of art and luxurious trousseaus that tried to evidence the expression of their status and to show the sumptuousness of their residences. Upon their return, they also returned to the Peninsula with many other goods, especially those objects that had become references of good taste, opulence or exoticism and whose simple possession denoted prestige for the family. One of the examples of New Spain trousseaus imported to Spain is the one related to the Marquis of Mancera, viceroy in New Spain between 1664 and 1673, and his family'. Our painting appears published in the book 'Pintura barroca en Valencia, 1600 - 1737' identified with the number 56, page 448. Bibliographic references: - Museo del Prado (n.d.). 'Hiepes, Tomás'.https://www.museodelprado.es/aprende/enciclopedia/voz/hiepes-tomas/0e2b0c7d-8a9f-4fcd-b80d-c9ce8198ae07. -González Zymla, Herbert (n.d.). 'Tomás Yepes'.https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/40939/tomas-yepes