PEDRO DE ORRENTE, (Murcia, 1580 - Valencia, 1645). "Scene... Lot 44

PEDRO DE ORRENTE, (Murcia, 1580 - Valencia, 1645). "Scene from the Old Testament". Oil on canvas. Relining. It presents restorations. Measurements: 64,5 x 58 cm. Immersed in an apparently desert landscape, several characters are inscribed. Arranged in such a way that they follow a completely baroque composition, like a zigzag, a characteristic that gives a great movement and depth to the scene. The image, in which animals and people merge, is presented in a pleasant manner, close to genre paintings in which the characters are defined by a multitude of activities. However, the clothing and even the presence of the camels invite the viewer to think of a biblical scene. In fact, both the dynamism of the composition and the thematic conception of the scene suggest that it can be related to biblical paintings by Pedro de Orrente, specifically Laban Seeks Idols, which is in the Museo del Prado collection. The museum scene features a large procession, populated by characters and camels, as in this case. The story tells the biblical tale of Laban catching up with Jacob's family. With the intention of searching for and recovering the idols that Rachel, Jacob's wife, had stolen. Known as "the Spanish Bassano", Pedro Orrente was a highly successful artist of his time, admired as a follower of the formulas of the famous Venetian family of artists, especially in his series of Old Testament themes set in lush landscapes. He lived in several Spanish cities, moving from his native Murcia to Toledo at a very young age, where he was already in 1600. If the fame of the Bassano family's works was enormous throughout Spain, the climate in the Castilian city must have been particularly receptive to their painting, as the works of the best masters who worked there attest. It is therefore not surprising that Orrente, who shortly afterwards travelled to Italy, went to Venice, where we find him as early as 1605. It is quite reasonable to think that he passed through the workshop of Leandro Bassano, whom Jusepe Martínez classified as his master. In 1607 he was already back in Spain, settled in Murcia. He continued to visit other Spanish cities, especially Toledo and Valencia, although he must also have spent time in Madrid. During his stay in Venice he must not only have learnt Bassano's pictorial manner, but also took on board his conception of painting as a market-oriented activity. His treatment of sacred themes as genre scenes would be fundamental in this respect. These were, above all, lively series of biblical stories with which fans could be flattered by the variety and dynamism of the works, populated by a large number of characters set in landscapes and accompanied by all kinds of animals and everyday objects. Works by Pedro Orrente are currently held in the Prado Museum, the Hermitage in St Petersburg, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Fine Arts Museums of Bilbao and Valencia, and the National Gallery of Denmark, among many others.