Matías de Arteaga y Alfaro

MATÍAS DE ARTEAGA Y ALFARO (Villanueva de los Infantes, Ciudad Real, 1633 - Seville, 1703).
"Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It presents restorations on the pictorial surface.
It has a XIX century frame.
Measurements: 206 x 163 cm; 223 x 180 cm (frame).
This painting by Matías de Arteaga represents Saint Elizabeth of Hungary performing charitable works, a typical theme of the Spanish religious baroque. In the scene, Saint Elizabeth, crowned as a symbol of her royal status, is shown washing the head of a sick person. Around her are other figures engaged in acts of assistance to the poor and sick. Details such as the beggars in the foreground, one with bandages on his head and another wounded on his feet, stand out, while in the background is a hospital that contextualizes the work of the saint. The work reflects the values of the Counter-Reformation, which promoted Christian charity as an essential virtue. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary is an emblematic figure for her dedication to the poor and her renunciation of royal privileges to serve the needy, making this type of scene a model of pious conduct. His representation emphasizes religious devotion through tangible acts of mercy, underscoring the Baroque ideal of faith in action.
Matías de Arteaga employs a style typical of Sevillian Baroque, with a strong use of chiaroscuro that guides attention to the central figure of the saint. The meticulous treatment of details -such as the textures of the fabrics, the metal objects, and the expressions of the characters- enriches the visual narrative. The contrast between the luminosity of the main characters and the penumbra of the background creates an intimate and solemn atmosphere, underlining the sacred character of the scene. In short, this painting stands out not only for its technical skill and composition, but also for its ability to convey the ideals of Christian charity and personal devotion, which were fundamental in the religious art of the Baroque period.

Matías de Arteaga y Alfaro was a Spanish Baroque painter and engraver. Attached to the Sevillian school, he knew how to collect and interpret with his own personality the double influence of Murillo and Valdés Leal. Son of the engraver Bartolomé Arteaga, while still a child his family moved to Seville, where he would be trained in his father's workshop and in contact with Murillo, whose influence reveals his early work together with that of Valdés Leal, who settled in Seville the same year that Arteaga passed the master painter's exam, in 1656. In 1660 he was among the founding members of the famous drawing academy promoted by Murillo, among others, of which he served as secretary between that date and 1673. In 1664 he joined the Brotherhood of the Holy Charity and two years later in the Sacramental of the Sagrario of the Sevillian cathedral, for which he made some works. Around 1680 there is also evidence of his work as an appraiser of paintings. He died in 1703, the inventory of the goods left at his death reveals a well-to-do way of life, having a slave and a large and well-furnished house, which had a medium-sized library with important books in Latin and Spanish and an engraving studio, as well as more than one hundred and fifty paintings, almost half of them of religious subject matter. Among them were four series of the Life of the Virgin, some of which were expressly said to contain architectural views, such as those we see in this work and in those preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville. The most characteristic of his peculiar style are precisely these series of always religious subjects, set in broad landscapes and architectural perspectives taken from prints. Skillful in the creation of these deep perspectives, skillfully illuminated, however, in the treatment of the figures and their bodily expressions he tends to develop with a certain clumsiness. Arteaga is represented in the aforementioned museum in Seville, various Sevillian temples including the cathedral and the Lazaro Galdiano Museum, among others.