Attributed to Antonio del Castillo

Attributed to ANTONIO DEL CASTILLO SAAVEDRA (Cordoba, 1616 - 1668).
"St. Joseph with Child.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has a frame of the nineteenth century.
Measurements: 69 x 42,5 cm; 78 x 50,5 cm (frame).
In this piece the author presents us a devotional scene, which stands out for the tenderness that the author tries to transmit to the spectator. For it he arranges Saint Joseph with the Child, both with a very close gesture, especially the one of Joseph, who dedicates a tender look to his son. The tonalities, ochre and bluish, oscillate between them, blending into each other, resulting in a peaceful image, where the color is harmoniously related without making hallmarks or demarcating elements of discordance. Until the Counter-Reformation, it was common for the figure of St. Joseph to remain in the background, since he was not given any theological importance. However, after Trent, his protagonist role as Jesus' protector during his childhood, as a guide during his youth, was recovered, and as such he is represented here. In contrast to the tenderness, defenselessness and candor of the infant figure, St. Joseph is presented as a monumental character, an impression that is reinforced by the pyramidal composition. Through this form of representation, the author visually enhances the decisive role as protector of the putative father of Jesus.
Stylistically, the work is close to the aesthetics of Antonio Castillo, considered the father of the Cordovan school, Antonio del Castillo was also a polychromator and designer of architectural, decorative and goldsmith projects. He was the son of Agustín del Castillo, a little known painter from Llerena (Extremadura) whom Palomino describes as "an excellent painter". It is also believed that he may have trained as a polychromator in Calderón's workshop. However, he was orphaned when he was only ten years old, in 1626, and went on to develop his training in the workshop of another painter of whom we have no news, Ignacio Aedo Calderón. Although there is no real evidence of this, it is believed that he may have arrived in Seville, where, according to Palomino, he entered Zurbarán's workshop. This has been corroborated by the stylistic influence of the master from Extremadura that historians have seen in Castillo's work. However, in 1635 he was back in his native Cordoba, where he married and settled permanently, to finally become without discussion the most important artist of the city. His fame and quality earned him important commissions, including religious altarpieces, portraits and medium-sized series. He was also the teacher of outstanding Cordovan painters of the following generation, such as Juan de Alfaro y Gámez. Regarding his language, Antonio del Castillo did not develop an evident evolution in his work, although towards the end of his life a more softened language can be appreciated, and he kept away from the baroque novelties of other contemporary painters. However, like the rest of his contemporaries, he was seduced by the novelty of Murillo's work, and in his last years he would introduce the Venetian chromatic softness of the Sevillian master. Generally speaking, in the religious figures he remained closer to strict naturalism, while in the historical compositions he was usually more open, especially when adding architectures and landscapes to his paintings. Palomino praised his capacity for capturing nature, and described him as "an excellent landscape painter, for which he would go out for a few days to walk, with an errand to draw, and he copied some places from nature". This note by the treatise writer shows Antonio del Castillo as a painter especially interested in the representation of nature, something evident not only in his landscapes but also in the everyday characters and animals that populate many of his works. Also, numerous drawings by his hand are preserved in which he portrays natures, characters and animals with great accuracy and immediacy. In fact, Palomino himself continues to assert that Castillo's love of drawing led him to make "drawings of whatever was offered to him". This determines a direct and truly singular work, of which today there are examples in the Prado Museum, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles, the Louvre, the Metropolitan in New York, the Courtauld Institute in London, the Municipal Museum of Malaga and the Cathedral of Cordoba, among other collections and religious centers.