On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01091
- Author
- Ribera, José de (Spanish)
- Title
- Saint Simon
- Chronology
- Ca. 1630
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 107 cm x 91 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
Saint Simon is depicted over a dark
background. He carries a book and
the saw that symbolizes his
martyrdom.
The technique, with strong
contrasts of light and shadows, is
still tenebrist, following the
style of the Italian painter,
Caravaggio, who was the maximum
influence on Ribera's work. That
same influence is visible in the
naturalist representation of the
saint's face, which may have been
based on human types in Ribera's
everyday life.
This type of composition, a
half-length depiction of a saint on
a dark background, accompanied only
by his iconographic attributes, was
abundant in Ribera's work from the
sixteen thirties.
Location on the map
