Jose (Giuseppe, Joseph) de Ribera is the oldest of the great artists of the Spanish Baroque, who is hardly even considered a representative of the art school of this country, since he spent most of his life and his whole career in Italy. Nevertheless, he was very proud of his roots and, moreover, lived in Naples, which in the 17th century was Spanish territory. He had close ties with his homeland and had a tremendous influence on Baroque art not only there, but also in the rest of Europe.
He was lucky to work in Naples. After it became part of the Spanish Empire in 1501 (the city remained under its rule for two centuries), its population tripled, making it the second largest urban center in Europe after Paris.
In the 17th century, Naples was a hotbed of intellectual and creative activity, where the greatest artists, philosophers, writers and musicians lived, at least until the great plague of 1565 destroyed half the population of the city. Living and working in Naples, Ribera was guaranteed to be surrounded not only by the best representatives of art, but also by wealthy patrons.
early years
Unfortunately, the biography of Jose de Ribera is not entirely complete. There are practically no documents that could shed light on his childhood in Spain. It is known that he was born and baptized in the city of Yativa (San Felipe) in Valencia, was the second son of a successful shoemaker named Simon. He lost his mother when he was only five or six years old.
Becoming
Although at that time sons were usually taught the same profession that their fathers owned, some art historians suggest that Ribera's artwork could be encouraged by other artists in his family.
His paternal grandmother was called Juan Navarro of Tervel, and several artists with that name were known in Valencia. However, this remains only an assumption. Ribera's biographer claims to have been a student of the successful local artist Francisco Ribalta as a child, although there is absolutely no evidence to support this claim.
Whatever the facts, he was clearly dissatisfied with how things were going, so he left his hometown in search of a better life (there is an opinion that he left Spain because of a quarrel with Ribalta related to the daughter of the master artist).
Relocation
Ribera appeared in Italy in 1611, first staying in Parma, where, according to documents, he painted for the church of St. Prospero, and then in 1613 he ended up in Rome. He remained in Rome until 1616, studying at the Academy of St. Luke, living with his younger brother Juan, as well as some other fellow Spaniards in the house of a Flemish merchant on Via Margutta.
Naples
Modern sources suggest that in these years in Rome, Ribera led a libertine existence (he was a supporter of free, hedonistic morality), possibly imitating Caravaggio, whose art he admired so much. Thus, he quickly ran out of money, and, apparently, in order to escape from his creditors, in 1616 he moved to the Kingdom of Naples under the control of Spain, where he remained until the end of his life.
Fortunately for Ribera, thanks to his roots, he was able to unite with the Spanish elite, as well as with the Flemish merchants who were in the highest echelons of Neapolitan society and, thus, were the main patrons of art in Naples.
Soon after appearing there, he entered into a profitable marriage with Catalina Azzolino, the daughter of the famous and successful artist and art dealer Giovanni Bernardino Azzolino (the haste of the marriage suggests that Ribera may have actually arranged it before he left Rome).
Modern documents show that the artist spent a lot of time learning Italian, although he did not achieve much success: he spoke with a strong Spanish accent and made terrible mistakes in letters.
Fame
After arriving in Naples, his reputation soared that by 1618, Ribera was considered the most popular artist in the city, receiving commissions from patrons such as Cosimo II Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Viceroy of Naples. Overloaded with work, Ribera made enough money to move to a large house with a garden, just in time for the birth of his first three children in the late 1620s (son Anotonio Simone was born in January 1627, and then his younger brother Jacinto Thomas - in November 1628 and, finally, the younger sister Margarita - in April 1630).
In 1630, he was visited by Velazquez, as well as the Spanish ambassador, who later became vice-king of Naples. He ordered several works for himself.
In 1631, Ribera was honored to become a knight of the papal order of the Vatican. This is one of the highest achievements any artist in Italy could hope for.
The success of Ribera during the 1630s developed to such an extent that by the 1640s he was able to move with his family to a real palace in the luxurious Chiaia district, next to the church of St. Teresa degli Scalzi.
In 1641, Ribera was lucky to receive a commission for work on the most important religious object in the city - the chapel of St. Gennaro in the Cathedral of Naples.
Later years
Good times came to an end in the mid 1640s, when the artist became seriously ill and could no longer paint.
Immediately after Jose de Ribera finally regained his health, a popular uprising against Spanish rule led by Tomasso Aniello Masaniello in July 1647 forced him to hide with his family in the Spanish Palazzo Real, where the painter will meet with the illegitimate son of Philip IV Don Juan from Austria.
The uprising had serious consequences for Ribera: because of the repressive measures taken by the Spaniards against the rebellious Italians, the artist and his family were expelled by the Italian population of the city.
In 1649, he had a relapse of the disease, and, as a result of his inability to work and because of the uprising, the artist's family began to experience serious financial problems.
The situation worsened when he had to take his daughter Margarita back to his house after the death of her husband a few years after their wedding. The difficulties were so great that in 1651, José de Ribera wrote a petition to the king asking for financial compensation for the widowhood of Margarita.
The following year, in July, he moved to a smaller, quieter house in Mergellin County, and died shortly afterwards.
Creation
All surviving works of Jose de Ribera, apparently, belong to the period of life in Naples. For the most part, they are religious compositions, as well as a number of classical and genre plots and several portraits. He wrote a lot for the Spanish Viceroys, with the help of which many of his paintings were sent to Spain. He also worked in the Roman Catholic Church and had numerous private patrons of various nationalities. Since 1621, most of his works have been signed, dated and documented.
Ribera’s paintings are harsh and gloomy, they can be called dramatic. The main elements of his style, tenebraism (the dramatic use of light and shadow) and naturalism, were used to emphasize the mental and physical suffering of penitent, martyred saints or tortured gods. Realistic details, often terrifying, were emphasized with coarse brush strokes on a thick layer of paint to indicate wrinkles, beards and bodily wounds. The technique of the artist José de Ribera is characterized by the sensitivity of the contour and the reliability with which he made the transitions from bright light to the darkest shadow.
In addition to paintings, among the few Spanish artists of the 17th century, he created numerous drawings, and his engravings were some of the best works in Italy and Spain during the Baroque period.
The works of Jose de Ribera
During his career, the painter studied what is connected with religion, including the biography of St. Bartholomew, Mary Magdalene, St. Jerome and St. Sebastian. The latter is a repeating figure, which Ribera depicted both in the traditional manner pierced by many arrows, and not in such a popular way, recovering from wounds due to Saint Irina.
In one of Jose de Ribera's paintings, Saint Sebastian is depicted tightly attached to a tree, he looks at the sky with an expression that speaks of his voluntary acceptance of martyrdom. In the same year, when the artist completed this work, another image of St. Sebastian was painted, which hung in the State Museum in Berlin until World War II. These two paintings represent two different approaches to the same plot. In the second picture, Sebastian is depicted unconscious, on his knees hanging from a tree to which his hands were tied. As a result, his figure is unusually distorted, which emphasizes the feeling of suffering and martyrdom.
The painter sometimes used his own daughter, Maria Rosa, who was of extraordinary beauty as a model for his paintings. In particular, she served as a prototype for the painting of St. de Ribera "Saint Inessa". He again used an unusual approach, portraying a girl in prison with her hands clasped in prayer and eyes fixed on the sky. This image is considered one of the most outstanding. The painting was extremely popular with the inhabitants of Naples, and the viceroy acquired it in his collection.
The picture of Jose de Ribera "The Lamella" was painted in the last period of the artist. On it, he portrayed a beggar crippled boy. The child stands against the backdrop of the landscape, as if deliberately exposing his crippled leg. He has a leaf in his hand asking for help. But, in spite of everything, his face is lit up with a sincere children's smile.