School of CRISTOBAL GARCÍA SALMERÓN (Cuenca, 1603-Madrid,... Lot 13

School of CRISTOBAL GARCÍA SALMERÓN (Cuenca, 1603-Madrid, 1673); 17th century. "Good Shepherd". Oil on canvas. It presents restorations on the pictorial surface. Measurements: 146 x 110 cm. Aesthetically the work is linked to the work of the artist García Salmerón and his workshop, from which various representations of the same type emerged, such as those currently conserved in the Prado Museum, which has the same vertical format, the one in the Diocesan and Cathedral Museum of Valladolid. In the Museo del Prado there is another full-length representation of the Good Shepherd, carrying the stray sheep and surrounded by the flock, which is evidence of the success of the subject among the painter's clientele. Other examples of lesser quality are to be found in the convent of La Trinidad in Valencia, in the monastery of Poblet and in a private collection from the art market. The work depicts Christ as the good shepherd, following the parable of the lost sheep in the Gospels of Luke and John: "If any of you loses one sheep out of the hundred that he has, does he not leave the other ninety-nine in the wilderness and go in search of the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he finds it, he carries it happily on his shoulders, and when he gets home he gathers his friends and neighbours together and says to them, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the sheep that was lost to me". I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of conversion". Jesus is shown against a black background, half-length and half-profile, looking up to heaven and carrying the lost sheep on his shoulders. In his right hand he holds a sign with the inscription: "I am the good shepherd". García Salmerón was born in Cuenca in 1603 and died in Madrid in 1673. He must have initially trained in his native city with some of the painters who were there, but regardless of this fact it is clear that the basis of his style is Pedro Orrente, whom he must have met or with whom he must have trained either in Valencia or Toledo. Other Toledo painters also had a lesser influence on his art, which was influenced by Luis Tristán and also by Maino. The fact is that he must have reached the rank of master before 1624 and after a period of intense activity in Cuenca, where he painted, among other works, the series of apostles and prophets for the Holy Week monument in the cathedral, he entered a period with no documentation, after having painted this series in 1650. Ten years later, in 1660, he was already in Madrid, where he spent the last stage of his artistic activity until his death. Not many works are known from this period, during which he also carried out appraisals for important court figures such as the Marquis of Frómista and Caracena. However, we do know of two works by his hand, a Good Shepherd for the convent of Carmen Calzado and a scene depicting Saint Teresa working on the resurrection of her nephew, which is signed and therefore indisputably attributed. García Salmerón's production shows a considerable degree of quality and deserves a prominent place in the artistic panorama of Madrid in the third quarter of the 17th century and at the forefront of the Cuenca in the first half of the century, where, according to our present knowledge, he must have had no rival in terms of commissions and clientele.