Ignatius Ries

IGNACIO DE RÍES (Seville, ca. 1616 - ?, 1670).
"Saint Bartholomew.
Oil on canvas.
Bibliography: Delenda, O. "Francisco de Zurbarán. 1598-1664. The sets and the workshop". Volume II. Madrid, 2010. IR-6 and IR-7. p. 291.
-Catalog of the exhibition Semblantes. Segovia, 2011 pp. 122-125.
Measurements: 185 x 108 cm; 208 x 128 cm (frame).
Monumental and with his gaze directed to the sky, Saint Bartholomew holds his characteristic knife and the Holy Scriptures in the other hand. The artist has lowered the point of view a little, with a perspective that flees from the strict frontality and brings a greater magnificence to the protagonist of the scene. In addition, this resource allows the viewer to pay attention to the background landscape where a secondary scene that narrates the martyrdom of the saint takes place. Saint Bartholomew was one of Jesus' apostles, and is mentioned in the Gospels always in the company of Philip. According to John, in whose Gospel he appears under the name of Nathanael, he was one of the disciples to whom Jesus appeared at the Sea of Tiberias after his resurrection. His martyrdom and death are attributed to Astiages, king of Armenia and brother of King Polymius, whom the saint had converted to Christianity. As the priests of the pagan temples, who were running out of followers, protested to Astiages about Bartholomew's evangelizing work, the ruler sent for him and ordered him to worship their idols, just as he had done with his brother. Faced with the saint's refusal, the king ordered him to be flayed alive in his presence until he renounced God or died. The image of Saint Bartholomew has undergone few modifications throughout the history of art, being common the representation of the saint at the moment of martyrdom.
Ignacio de Ríes was a Spanish painter, son of the Flemish painter Mateo de Ríes, from whom he possibly received his first artistic training. Between 1635 and 1645, approximately, he is documented as an official in Zurbarán's workshop, being considered one of his most important disciples. His work is characterized by a very eclectic style strongly influenced by Zurbarán's painting, as can be seen in the use of chiaroscuro and a descriptive technique that pays great attention to the qualities of the objects, among other aspects. Likewise, to create his compositions he frequently resorted to Flemish prints by authors such as Aegidius Sadeler II or Jeronimus Wierix. Although his stylistic evolution is very limited, we can place in a first stage those works more attached to the style of his master -such as the San Miguel Arcángel (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)- and in a second stage those in which he uses a looser brushstroke and in which the influence of Murillo's painting can be appreciated, such as the Asunción de la Virgen, of 1661, for the church of San Bartolomé in Seville. Around 1653 he painted the most important work of his career: the paintings for the chapel of the Immaculate Conception in the cathedral of Segovia, commissioned by Pedro Fernández Miñano y Contreras to decorate the space that would serve as a funeral chapel for his family, which determines that the predominant message of the set revolves around repentance and penitence. Of all of them, the most outstanding is The Tree of Life, not only for its workmanship but also for its iconography, representing Christ's warning of the imminent arrival of Death to a group of men and women who, placed at the top of the tree, appear to be committing different capital sins. The Prado Museum preserves by his hand King David, a work of great quality that, both stylistically and iconographically, can be related to Zurbarán and his series on the sons of Jacob (Auckland Castle, Durham).