JOSÉ DE RIBERA School (Xátiva, Valencia, 1591... Lot 30

JOSÉ DE RIBERA School (Xátiva, Valencia, 1591 - Naples, 1652). "Adoration of the Shepherds". Oil on canvas. Re-drawn. It presents faults and restorations. Size: 159 x 254 cm; 175 x 258 cm (frame). This canvas represents a classic theme in the History of Art, that of the shepherds adoring the newborn Baby Jesus in the Bethlehem's portal. It is a scene that lends itself to being interpreted as a large composition with numerous characters, worked in a costumbrista style. The scene is approached from a naturalistic point of view, emphasising the humble setting that welcomes the birth of the Child Jesus, full of eloquent gestures but without the triumphalist character of the more official Baroque, a view that seeks to make the faithful identify with the scene, to be moved by what they see. Thus we see the Child in a simple straw manger, protected by his mother and surrounded by the humble figures of the shepherds who kneel before him, characters taken from popular models, in no way idealised, in keeping with the aesthetics of naturalism. The painting is full of secondary objects that add to the realism of the scene, with the intention above all of recreating the religious scenes realistically, in order to present the events as they happened. From its subject matter and style we can situate this painting within the Neapolitan school of the 17th century around the figure of José de Ribera, a key painter belonging to the generation of the great masters of the Golden Age. Ribera was no stranger to this subject, as can be seen both in a painting in the Louvre and in his work in the co-cathedral of Maria Santissima Assunta and San Catelo in Castellammare di Stabia (Italy). Self-taught in Italy. He first came into contact with naturalism when he arrived in Rome in 1615, where he came into contact with the Nordic Caravaggists, from whom he adopted the smooth, hurried technique, feisism and rigorous drawing that characterised his style during his Roman phase. However, in 1616 he moved to Naples and settled there permanently. In Naples Ribera became the leader of the group of Neapolitan naturalists and an important circle of painters grew up around him. Despite his stay in Italy, Ribera sent numerous works to Spain, and his language would be key to the formation of the Baroque in our country. His work would bring tenebrism and, later, the full Baroque, long before it arrived directly in Spain, thus influencing the new generations of painters. On the other hand, once his Roman period was over, his painting was characterised by a very loose, Venetian-influenced brushstroke, which also influenced the work of his followers. Thus, Ribera's school developed a style of dramatic, contrasting, clearly tenebrist lighting, which is nevertheless tinged by a Venetian brushstroke that is impastoed and fluid. Thus, here we see an artificial, directed spotlight that penetrates the scene from the upper right corner and directly illuminates the saint's face and hands, leaving the rest in semi-darkness. And we also find that totally modern brushstroke that models the saint by means of the light, that touch of pasty, expressive brushstroke that the artist learned directly from Ribera's work.