Felipe Gil de Mena

FELIPE GIL DE MENA (Palencia, 1603-1673).
"Annunciation.
Oil on panel.
Signed and dated in the lower central area.
Measurements: 30 x 43 cm; 36 x 50 cm (frame).
In this work we see an Annunciation typical of the full Spanish baroque, with a scenographic and triumphalist composition, clearly counter-reformist, where the celestial and the earthly plane are united in only one. We see Mary in the foreground, kneeling before a lectern, on which rests a small book. The celestial area, represented by a break of glory of clear divine light, bursts into the earthly scene, although the angel Gabriel does not even set foot on the ground. Between Mary and the angel we see the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and other cherubs hovering in the environment.
Felipe Gil de Mena began his artistic training in Valladolid with the master Diego Valentin Diaz, although he later moved to Madrid to attend the workshop of the painter Juan Van der Hamen. As the Royal Academy of History points out, Gil de Mena was linked throughout his life to his master Valentin Diaz "He trained with this painter, although it is believed that he may also have been at the Court and even met Zurbarán. He would inherit his master's workshop, and would become the most recognized painter in the city and nearby towns.
From then on he was requested by different convents to paint series of canvases, of which the one of the cloister of the convent of San Francisco de Valladolid stands out. Several canvases are preserved in the National Sculpture Museum, such as the painting of St. Francis and St. Dominic in the refectory, probably inspired by prints from the end of the 16th century. Before 1660, Gil de Mena received commissions for several convents in the province of Valladolid, such as that of San José de Medina de Rioseco, of the Discalced Carmelites, where some of his paintings of Franciscan and Carmelite themes are preserved. But it was from that date, the date of his master's death, when Gil de Mena became a much sought-after painter.
He worked for the church of Santa María and the church of San Antolín de Tordesillas, where he collaborated in the altarpiece made by José de Alejo in 1659. He also made several works for the parishes of Ítero de la Vega, Baltanás or San Miguel de Peñafiel, and worked for the Jesuits, as in the altarpiece of paintings dedicated to the Immaculate Conception (1664) for the collegiate church of Villagarcía de Campos; or in the canvas of the Apotheosis of the Eucharist, for those of Valladolid, today the church of San Miguel, in which the artistic evolution of Gil de Mena can be seen".