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This likeness of the Franciscan clergyman is a significant example of elongated bust portraits that are quiet customary in the Western figurative tradition. Such works allow a closer approach to the model’s essential features, reducing but not eliminating accessory elements such as his clothing and a summary depiction of the surrounding space. Rather than overly limiting information on the protago
The Virgin’s facial type, the confident drawing and the forceful rendering of the spatial planes originally led this work to be attributed to Claudio Coello. But in 1986 more precise knowledge of the artistic personality of Mateo Cerezo led Rogelio Buendía and Ismael Gutiérrez Pastor to name him as its author. This attribution has been maintained and it rests on a comparison to signe
Surrounded by angels, the Holy Family, with Saint Elizabeth and the infant Saint John, receive Saint Louis, King of France. The background combines architecture and curtains. This work is organized like a large stage set, using the infant Saint John and an adjacent lamb to invite the viewer to participate. The dynamic and complex composition with its brilliant and expansive colors recalls models f
Various figures of Virtues and saints are grouped around the Virgin and Child, forming an extensive “sacra conversazione”. The infant Saint John the Baptist is easily recognisable, as are Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Saint Paul, Saint Peter, Saint Francis and Saint Anthony of Padua, all of whom were among the most popular saints in Baroque Spain.
The first known reference to this work dates from 1746, when an inventory of paintings at the La Granja Palace was drawn up. There, it is attributed to Velázquez and identified as a likeness of his wife, Juana, whose father was the painter, Francisco Pacheco. It also specifies that she is holding a board. The linking of anonymous portraits to the lives of their authors was frequent in the 1
The wheel by the figure’s feet, her palm of martyrdom and crown identify her as Saint Catherine who received the wedding ring from the Infant Christ in reward for her virtue. The basket in the foreground demonstrates Cerezo’s outstanding abilities as a still-life painter.
On the shore, Saint Francis receives a young man dressed in a black habit, ruff collar and hat, whom Christ carries over the water. In the background: a boat and an embankment with two figures.This canvas is from the Carmelite convent of San Hermenegildo in Madrid, where, without describing it, Ponz lists it as a work by Cabezalero paired with another, now at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, that i
Evoking the model of the great equestrian portraits painted for the Spanish Habsburgs by Titian, Rubens and Velázquez, Giordano offers his own idealised and triumphal depiction of Maria Anna of Neuburg. The Queen is shown in a landscape that recalls the Bay of Naples, both accompanied by allegorical figures. It is not clear if these canvases were the bases for large-scale portraits of the m
Marie Louise of Bourbon (1662–1689)—or d’Orléans, as she was the daughter of the Duke d’Orléans—is represented as the Queen of Spain. Forced to abandon depictions adhering to the conventions of French portraiture in Pierre Mignard’s circle, she is here presented according to the traditional line of Spanish court portraiture. The symbols that reveal the personality given to the sitter
This canvas by a late 17th-century painter is part of a group of four works, all at the Museo del Prado (P191, P3196, P3197 and P3198), that express the idea of the Elements through motives drawn from classical mythology. The female figure that represents Air is accompanied by the Winds. In her right hand, she carries a bag that sprinkles water, representing rain, while the ray of light represents
This canvas by a late 17th-century painter is part of a group of four works, all at the Museo del Prado (P191, P3196, P3197 and P3198), that express the idea of the Elements through motives drawn from classical mythology. According to R. López Torrijos (1985), Water is embodied here by Ocean’s sister and wife, Thetis, who was queen of the seas. A crown and scepter underline her royal charac
The saint’s figure, with long blond tresses, occupies the center of the scene. Gazing at the heavens, she crosses her hands across her bosom in prayer. Her worn clothing is enveloped in large floating robes whose movement is decidedly diagonal, and the cloud on which she kneels is carried towards Heaven by Coello’s customary cherubs. Some hold the attributes that always accompany her when she is r
As Lafuente Ferrari (1941) pointed out when publishing this work, it is a significant example of the passionately baroque tone of late 17th-century painting in Madrid. The same critic mentions the clear influence of the Triumph of Saint Augustine (P664), which Claudio Coello painted thirty years earlier in 1664. And it is indeed possible to draw a certain correlation between the postures of the tw
Charles II is depicted in armour, wearing the emblem of the Golden Fleece and an ornate neck tie in the French style, an accessory he favoured when outside Madrid from around 1677. Despite these formal elements, Giordano makes little effort to disguise the King’s unattractive appearance. This canvas was previously considered to be by Claudio Coello (1642-1693).
Spanish saint Dominic de Guzmán (1170-1221) founded the Dominican Order, which became one of the most powerful and influential religious groups in Catholic Europe, partially as a result of its defense of orthodoxy through the Inquisition, which was led by Dominican prelates. Claudio Coello made five paintings for their convent of El Rosario in Madrid, one of which is presented here. They we
This painting is of considerable interest as there are very few surviving works by this artist, who was a fine example of the last generation of great decorators from Madrid. The architectural setting is notable in its resemblance to Claudio Coello´s manner, as are the figures of the angels. The color scheme is warm but rather muted, with handsome yellows, ochers and grayish greens that are
Vestido con el típico sayal de los franciscanos, sujeto por el rústico cordón con los tres nudos significativos de los votos de pobreza, castidad y obediencia. De San Antonio conocemos, a través de los escritos de San Bernardino de Siena, que era de aspecto corpulento y bajo de estatura, pero la iconografía habitual prefirió dulcificar su fisonomía e insistir en la amabilidad o gallardía de su per
This canvas by a late 17th-century painter is part of a group of four works, all at the Museo del Prado (P191, P3196, P3197 and P3198), that express the idea of the Elements through motives drawn from classical mythology. Here, the element Earth is represented with total clarity by the goddess Ceres. The summer fruit she carries, especially sheaves of wheat, and the fact that she is suckling a bab
