Francisco Herrera

FRANCISCO HERRERA, EL VIEJO (Seville, ca. 1590-Madrid, ca. 1654).
"The Birth of the Virgin".
Oil on canvas. Relined from the 19th century.
Attached certificate issued by Don Enrique Valdivieso.
It presents restorations and damages in the frame.
It has inscription on the stretcher frame: "From the Gallery of His Excellency Mr. Manuel Josef Quintana".
Measurements: 49 x 89 cm; 37,5 x 97 cm (frame).
This work made around 1625-1630 was conceived with the intention of forming part of the ornamentation of the Nativity Altarpiece, located in the Convent of San José del Carmen "Las Teresas" in Seville. Specifically, the piece would have been destined for the predella area. It was with the disentailment when the painting was separated from the original set and later purchased by the instructor of Queen Isabel II, Manuel José Quintana y Lorenzo (1772-1857). The Birth of Mary is traditionally depicted as we see it here, as a genre scene set in an interior of the period. In the absence of details concerning the Birth of the Virgin in the Bible, art has turned to the Apocryphal Gospels for inspiration. The Protoevangelium of James provides the names of her parents (Joachim and Anne), and tells that she, barren, withdrew to fast in the desert for 40 days, and an angel appears to her, who then communicates the news to her husband. Similar stories are found in other texts: the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary, the Armenian Gospel of the Infancy, etc.
Due to its aesthetics, the work is related to the artistic production of Francisco Herrea, "El mozo" (Seville, 1627- Madrid, 1685), son of Francisco Herrera el viejo, "El mozo", began his artistic training under the guidance of his father, although he finally continued his studies in Rome. At first he dedicated himself to architecture, although he soon began to work with the fresco technique. In 1656 he returned to Seville, and four years later, in 1660, together with other painters such as Murillo, Valdes Leál and Camprobín, he founded the drawing academy of Seville, of which he was the deputy director. A year later he moved to Madrid where he worked on the Frescoes of San Felipe el Real. It was in this project, with which he caught the attention of Philip IV, who hired him to paint the dome of the chapel of Nuestra Señora de Atocha and also appointed him court painter and superintendent of the royal buildings. Later, with the appointment of Charles II, he continued to form part of the court, and was appointed master of the royal works. His work is characterized by specialization in the still life genre, although he was also an appreciated portraitist, without reaching the success of his father. However, due to his dynamic and colorful works, where a light and versatile brush movement stands out, he became a master of the Baroque, fundamental in the development of Madrid painting in the last third of the 17th century.