Ventura de los Reyes Corradi

VENTURA DE LOS REYES CORRADI (Malina,1828-1901)
"St. John of God", c. 1855.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Signed and dated in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 147 x 98 cm; 158 x 109 cm (frame).
In this devotional image of marked tenebrism the author focuses the attention on the three figures arranged in the center. The piece follows the models of a work by the master Murillo, which is currently in the Hospital de la Santa Caridad in Seville. In the work a stylized angel portrayed with an elegant contraposto comforts a man who carries a wounded man on his back, so it is possible to intuit that it is the representation of St. John of God. Aesthetically, the work is heir to the baroque period, a feature that can be seen in the lighting used by the artist, the theatricality and theatricality. St. John of God was a Portuguese soldier turned health worker in Spain, whose followers later formed the Hospitaller Brothers of St. John of God, a worldwide Catholic religious institute dedicated to the care of the poor, the sick and those suffering from mental disorders. He is considered one of the world's leading religious figures.
Ventura de los Reyes Corradi trained at the School of Fine Arts in Seville, being a disciple of José María Romero. He had close personal ties with the Philippines, as he was the grandson of the deputy to the Cortes for the Philippines of the same name. In Manila, he studied Humanities in the seminary of Santo Tomás. In 1859, he traveled to Italy to visit the most important cities, residing in two of them, specifically in Florence and Rome. From the mid 1860s until the date of his death, he lived in different Andalusian cities, first in Malaga and later in Cordoba, where he was a full member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Fine Arts in 18765. In 1881, he obtained the Chair of Perspective at the Provincial School of Fine Arts, an institution where he taught for two decades, being the teacher of painters such as Ernesto Romá and Figueras, and according to the scarce news that are known about his artistic career, while still a student, he participated in the National Exhibition of 1858. It was probably a historical genre painting, a theme that the artist developed assiduously at the beginning of his career. Later, he cultivated the costumbrista theme, in small format paintings and following the typology of tableutin, under the influence of the Florentine painter Signor Ciuri.