School of José de Ribera, 17th century

School of JOSÉ DE RIBERA (Játiva, 1591-Naples, 1652), 17th century.
"The Vision of Saint Anthony of Padua".
Oil on canvas, period frame.
It has repainting and patches.
Measurements: 142 x 108 cm; 160 x 125.5 cm (frame).
This painting is directly inspired by the homonymous canvas by José de Ribera, conserved in the Real Academia de San Fernando in Madrid. However, the spatial representation (the interior of the Spartan chamber) has been omitted, focusing attention on the two figures and the relationship established between them: the kneeling saint and the Christ Child, who appears to the saint while he is praying in his monastic cell. José Ribera's iconographic model became firmly established in Spain during the Counter-Reformation, as before him the dominant iconography was the representation of the child in the saint's arms. Here the intense contrast of light adds an undoubtedly dramatic, typically Baroque effect to the composition. The cold, silvery light seems to emanate from inside the bodies: from the flesh of the saint, whose features express the utmost rapture, and from the naked body of the Christ Child. The painter has dispensed with the architectural outline and also with the court of cherubs surrounding the Child in the manner of a break of glory, as in Ribera's painting. The marked diagonal of the original composition is maintained, as is the plasticity given by the golden effect of the celestial light.
Ribera produced several versions of the subject, which are now in El Escorial, Granada Cathedral and the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples. The painting comes from the royal collections and was painted together with the Assumption of the Magdalene by the same artist, also in the Academy in the Royal Apartments at El Escorial. Both canvases are a good example of the devotion to the saints after the Council of Trent (1545-1563). In 1871 this canvas was included in Cuadros selectos de la Real Academia de las tres Nobles Artes de San Fernando, a collection of prints intended to disseminate knowledge of the institution's most singular works and, at the same time, to promote the art of engraving.