JUAN RUIZ SORIANO (Higuera de la Sierra, Huelva,... Lot n° 40

JUAN RUIZ SORIANO (Higuera de la Sierra, Huelva, 1701 - Seville, 1763). "Divine Shepherdess". Oil on canvas. Re-retouched. With repainting and restorations. With certificate of Enrique Valdivieso. Measurements: 46 x 37 cm., 58 x 49 cm. (frame) Born in the town of Higuera de Aracena, nowadays Higuera de la Sierra, Juan Ruiz Soriano trained in Seville with his cousin Alonso Miguel de Tovar (Higuera de la Sierra, 1678 - Madrid, 1752), beginning his pictorial activity in 1725. As a disciple of Tovar, it is logical that Ruiz Soriano's art should at the same time derive from that of Murillo, which is why his pictorial production is characterised by a soft, gentle drawing. We know that he worked for numerous religious orders, which asked him to produce a series of paintings to decorate their cloister walls. He must also have worked extensively for private individuals. The present canvas shows the direct influence of Tovar. Both masters derived their models from Murillo, as was common among 18th-century Sevillian painters, and this influence is also evident in this canvas, both in the sketchy treatment and the very elaborate classical tones, as well as in the shepherdess and the lamb, which are painted with a marked sense of expressive affability and serenity. Within Alonso Miguel de Tovar's production we frequently find the same theme as in this painting, depicted following a very similar compositional model. In the "Divinas Pastoras" in the parish church of Cortelazor, the one in Higuera de la Sierra and the one in the Museo del Prado, all typical of Tovar's style, Mary appears seated on a rock against a landscape background enclosed on the left, dressed in a pink tunic, blue cloak and sheepskin sackcloth, holding a rose in her left hand and caressing a sheep's head with her right. In all of them, moreover, the animals approaching the figure hold roses in their mouths as an offering to Mary. The rest of the elements of the composition are identical to those of Tovar's, showing that the pupil copied his master in the execution of this delicate piece.