Description
Circle of Jusepe de Ribera (Xàtiva 1591 – Naples 1652) – Saint Joseph.
Oil on canvas, in carved and gilded wooden frame.
The painting depicts Saint Joseph as a half-length figure, shown in three-quarter view with his gaze directed downward, holding the flowering staff that serves as his traditional iconographic attribute. The plastic rendering of the face, built through a confident use of chiaroscuro, and the treatment of the drapery in deep tones of black and reddish brown reflect the figurative culture of Ribera’s circle, developed in Naples within the Caravaggesque tradition. The pictorial quality of the work, particularly in the anatomical modelling of the hand and in the expressive intensity of the profile, places the painting within the circle of the Spanish master.
Condition report: Relined canvas. Good overall condition of the painted surface, with signs of ageing and wear.
