Attributed to Domingo Martínez

Attributed to DOMINGO MARTÍNEZ (Seville, 1688 - 1749), .
"Jesus with the attributes of the Passion".
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 100 x 82 cm; 111 x 92 cm (frame).

This painting, attributed to the Sevillian baroque master Domingo Martinez, reflects the technical and aesthetic skill of Domingo Martinez, while displaying the deep symbolism that permeates the theology of Christ's redemptive sacrifice. By showing us the Infant Jesus associated with the attributes of the Passion, he seeks to connect the faithful with the mystery of the Incarnation and Salvation, being the art of the Counter-Reformation a pedagogical and emotive vertebral vehicle. The Child Jesus wears a crown of thorns anticipating the suffering and sacrifice he will face in his adulthood. From the wicker basket spill the nails, symbols of the Crucifixion and, next to it, we read "Inri" on the piece of white cloth. Next to it, the skull, which alludes to human mortality and redemption by the death of Christ. As for the serpent, symbol of the devil and sin, it is redeemed by the Child, destined to crush evil. This type of iconography is a prefiguration (spiritual preparation) of the events of the Passion, which in the context of the Baroque sought to move the viewer. The two angels holding the cross in the sky reinforce the divine and heavenly dimension of Jesus' suffering. Stylistically, the painting is framed within the Andalusian seventeenth century, candid and subtle in the handling of a light that models the bodies with softness, and extracts the right textures and qualities of the flesh and silky curly hair.

Domingo Martinez was trained in his hometown, being Lucas Valdes one of his teachers. The sources indicate that he was appreciated in his time, given that we find important commissions such as those received from the archbishop of Seville, for whom he made several paintings for the cathedral of the Andalusian capital and the church of Nuestra Señora de la Consolación in Umbrete. Likewise, during the stay of Philip V's court in Seville (1729-33) he maintained a relationship with French painters in the service of the king, such as Jean Ranc and Louis-Michel van Loo, whose influence will be evident in his work, combined with the direct inheritance of Murillo. On the other hand, it was precisely Ranc who proposed Martínez as court painter, an offer that the painter, however, rejected, since he did not wish to move to Madrid with the king. He had several disciples, and we know that his workshop trained Andrés de Rubira, Pedro Tortolero and Juan de Espinal, the latter painter who would eventually become his son-in-law and heir to the family workshop. His first important work was the decorative set of the church of the Colegio de San Telmo, with paintings on the life of Christ and his relationship with the sea, made in 1724. Six years later he painted two large paintings for the Convent of Santa Paula in Seville. In this same decade of 1730 he also produced individual works and sets for churches in Seville and its province, always with religious themes, as well as the portrait of Archbishop Luis de Salcedo y Azcona for the Archbishop's Palace of Seville (1739). He was equally prolific in the last decade of his life, when he created tempera decorations for the churches of Santa Ana and San Luis de los Franceses in Seville, as well as several canvases. His last work, executed around 1748, was a set of eight canvases representing the great masquerade held in Seville in June of the previous year on the occasion of the accession to the throne of Fernando VI. Works by Martínez are currently preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville.