Depicting holiness
Among Maíno’s religious works, his depiction of single figures of saints are particularly interesting. They are conceived in a monumental manner and located very close to the viewer in order to encourage a spirit of devotion. The repentant Saint Meter –a painting that enjoyed a certain success- offers a moving depiction of the Apostle. The saint’s pose derives from Caravaggio and was subsequently used by other Spanish painters in the first quarter of the seventeenth century. The solidity of the body, the lighting and the use of space can also be related to Maíno’s Saint John the Baptist in Basel, while his monumental Saint Hyacinth reveals the artist’s abilities to work in a different format, in a manner that recalls mural painting. The penitent Magdalen is a delicate interpretation of a Flemish print and a work whose sensual colouring and physicality recall Orazio Gentileschi.
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The penitent Magdalen. Juan Bautista Maíno. Oil on canvas, 117 x 89 cm. Private collection
