Jusepe de Ribera (; baptised 17 February 1591 – 3 November 1652) was a Spanish painter and printmaker. Ribera, Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanish Baroque painting. Referring to a series of Ribera exhibitions held in the late 20th century, Philippe de Montebello wrote "If Ribera's status as the undisputed protagonist of Neapolitan painting had ever been in doubt, it was no longer. Indeed, to many it seemed that Ribera emerged from these exhibitions as not simply the greatest Neapolitan artist of his age but one of the outstanding European masters of the seventeenth century."Pérez-Sánchez, Alfonso E., and Nicola Spinosa. 1992. Jusepe de Ribera 1519–1652. The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York. 290 pp, Jusepe de Ribera has also been referred to as José de Ribera (usual in Spanish and French), and was called Lo Spagnoletto (Italian for "the Little Spaniard") by his contemporaries and early historians.
Ribera created history paintings, including traditional Biblical subjects and episodes from Greek mythology. He is perhaps best known for his numerous views of martyrdom, which at times are brutal scenes depicting bound saints and satyrs as they are flayed or crucified in agony. Less familiar are his occasional, but accomplished portraits, still lifes and landscapes. Nearly half of his surviving work consist of half length portraits of workers and beggars, often older individuals in ragged clothes, posing as various philosophers, saints, apostles and allegorical figures. Ribera's paintings, particularly his early work, are characterized by stark realism using a chiaroscuro or tenebrist style. His later work embraced a greater use of color, softer light, and more complex compositions, although he never entirely abandoned his Caravaggisti leanings.
Very little is known about the first 20 years of his life and there are many gaps concerning his later life and career. He was baptized on 17 February 1591, in Játiva, Spain, his father identified as a shoemaker. He is not recorded again until 1611, when records show he was paid for a painting (now lost) for a church in Parma, Italy. Documents show he was a member of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome by October 1613 and living in a house in the Via Margutta in 1615–16, at that time known as "the foreigner's quarter", apparently living a bohemian life with his brothers and other artists. Anecdotal accounts written at the time indicate he quickly earned a reputation as an outstanding painter after arriving in Rome and was earning great profits, but also noted his laziness and extravagant spending.
Ribera moved to Naples in late 1616, under Spanish rule at that time, and in November married Caterina Azzolino, the daughter of Sicilian painter Giovanni Bernardino Azzolini. There he remained for the rest of his life, setting up a workshop with many pupils, securing commissions, and establishing an international reputation. In 1626 he received the Cross of the Order of Christ from Pope Urban VIII. His health began to deteriorate in 1643 and his productivity declined from that time on, and by 1649 he was experiencing financial hardships as well. However, when his health permitted, he continued to produce several acclaimed paintings into the last year of his life.National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C. (www.nga.gov): Jusepe de Ribera, Biography. (accessed 10 December 2022)Lassaigne, Jacques. 1952. Spanish Painting: From Velazquez to Picasso. Editions D'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, Switzerland 148 pp. (see pages 24–30, & 141)
Life Early biographies
His Italian biographers have many tales to tell of Ribera's stormy, picaresque career, and picture "Lo Spagnoletto's" life as an endless series of professional intrigues and rivalries, attempted poisonings due to gelosia di mestiere, conspiracies and brawls, triumphs and adversities, dramatic love affairs. Alterations of dark patches and dazzling light, glooms and raptures – just as in his paintings. Perhaps we would do better to keep to the records and established dates of Ribera's life." Jacques Lassaigne (1952)
Biographers of Ribera in the 17th and 18th century, including Bernardo de' Dominici,De Dominici, Bernardo. 1742 – 45. Vite de' pittori, scultori, ed architti napoletani [Lives of Neapolitan Painters, Sculptors and Architects], Vols. I – III. Naples. Carlo Celano,Celano, Carlo. 1692. Notizie del bello, dell'antico, e del curioso della cittá di Napoli [News of the Beautiful, the Ancient, and the Curious of the City of Naples]. Naples. and Palomino de Castro y VelascoAntonio Palomino, Acisclo Antonio. 1715 – 1724. El museo pictórico y Escala óptica [The Pictorial Museum and Optical Scale], Vols. I – III. Madrid. produced a substantial amount of information on the artist's life that is now known to be erroneous. Much of this misinformation was pervasive well into the 20th century and is occasionally still repeated today. It was long believed he was born in 1587, De Dominici saying he was from Gallipoli, Apulia while Celano stated he was from Lecce. One said he descended from nobility, and another identified his father as a Spanish army officer. Research and documents emerged in the 20th century have proven these false.Finaldi, Gabriele. 1992. A Documentary Look at the Life and Work of Jusepe de Ribera. pages 3–8: IN Pérez-Sánchez, Alfonso E., and Nicola Spinosa. Jusepe de Ribera 1519–1652. The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York. 290 pp, Milicua, José. 1992. From Játiva to Naples. pages 9 – 17: IN, Pérez-Sánchez, Alfonso E., and Nicola Spinosa. Jusepe de Ribera 1519–1652. The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York. 290 pp, Other episodes and events in Ribera's life remain unverified. Early accounts (still repeated today) state that Ribera began his art education in Valencia, where he was a pupil of Francesc Ribalta. Although this is entirely plausible, there is no real evidence to confirm it.
De Dominici's biography described Ribera as an egotistical and condescending individual of reprehensible behavior. He was reputed to have been chief of the so-called Cabal of Naples, his abettors being a Greek painter, Belisario Corenzio and the Neapolitan Battistello Caracciolo. However, there are no real documents or records to substantiate (or discredit) this other than these early biographies. De Dominici's biography has been called "barefaced lies" by one modern historian,Prota-Giurleo, Ulisse. 1953. Pittori napoletani del Seicento [Neapolitan Painters of the Seventeenth Century]. Fausto Fiorentino-Libraio, Naples. 174 (page 97). and "a caricature" by another, although the latter noted a critical examination of it can still provide some insights.
Early life (1591–1616)
Little information is available on Ribera's youth. It was as recent as 1923 that the year of his birth was positively established. He was baptized on 17 February 1591, in Játiva, Spain, about 60 km. (37 mi.) south of Valencia. His parents were identified as Simón and Margarita (née Cucó) Ribera, married in 1588, and his father's occupation a shoemaker. Other baptismal records show the couple had two other sons, Jerónimo (b.1588) and Juan (b.1593).Viñes, Gonzalo J., 1923. La verdadera partida de bautismo del Españoleto y otros datos de familia. Archivo de arte valenciano, (9): 18-24. A gap of 20 years follows his baptism record, including information regarding his childhood, education, teachers, and when he left Spain.
Ribera's move to the Italian peninsula and his training as an artist have been subjects of interest to art historians in recent decades. His 18th century biographer Palomino wrote that he apprenticed with the Spanish painter Francesc Ribalta in Valencia, and this was generally accepted by historians into the mid to late 20th century, although no proof of this connection exists. Recently, historians have begun to question this scenario. There is some evidence to suggest Ribera might have been in Italy as early as 1608-1609 (age 17 or 18), or even as early as 1605-1606 (age 14 or 15).Galleria nazionale d'arte antica di palazzo Corsini: Art/Masterpeices Jusepe Ribera Known as Spagnoletto (Játiva 1591 - Naples 1652), Peter's Denial ca. 1615-16. (accessed 20 December 2022) Marriage records show that his father, Simón, married a second time in 1597 when Jusepe was six years old, and a third time in 1607 when he was 16, suggesting some disruption and lack of continuity in Ribera youth. Recent decades have also shed light on Ribera's presumed teacher Francesc Ribalta, whose early works exhibit a mannerist style, and is now known to have only reached his final and mature period, reflecting a realist and Caravaggesque current about 1614, at which point Ribera is already documented working in Italy. Some historians also believe Ribera's drawing technique shows a thoroughly Italian education and influences.
Records show Ribera was in Parma, Italy in June 1611, where he received payment for a painting of Saint Martin Sharing His Cloak with a Beggar, for the Church of San Prospero. It is notable and some indication of Ribera's reputation that a foreigner, at the age 20, was given a commission for a public altarpiece. Ludovico Carracci wrote in 1618, that Ribera was under the protection of the ducal family (House of Farnese) while in Parma which aroused some resentment from local artist. The painting, now lost, is known from copies and prints and was often praised in the local literature until it was taken by Napoleon's troops.
The artist is next confirmed in Rome in October 1613, where records show he was a member of the Accademia di San Luca. Parish registries (Status animarum) verify he observed Easter in 1615 and 1616 and was living in a house on the Via Margutta, then known as the foreigners quarter, with others including his brothers Jerónimo, and Juan who is also known to have been a painter. At that time Rome was the most important center of painting, "the fountainhead of the Baroque",Janson, H. W. 1977. History of Art: A Survey of the Major Visual Arts from the Dawn of History to the Present Day, 2nd ed. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York. 767 pp. (page 483) where artist from throughout Europe gravitated, including painters such as Gerrit van Honthorst from the Netherlands, Simon Vouet from France, Adam Elsheimer from Germany, and many others, all exploring various aspects of chiaroscuro and tenebrism in the wake of Caravaggio.Dupont, Jacques and Francois Mathey. 1951. The Seventeenth Century: The New Developments in Art from Caravaggio to Vermeer. Editions D'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, Switzerland. 136 pp. (Pages 31, 123-24, & 131) The last records of the artist in Rome are a payment of promised alms to the Accademia de San Luca in May 1616, and a bank transaction in July 1616.