Attributed to Juan de la Corte

Attributed to JJUAN DE LA CORTE (ca.1585-1662).
"Healing at the Pool of Bethesda".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Presents faults.
It has a frame of the nineteenth century.
Measurements: 106 x 161 cm; 116 x 172 cm (frame).
The work presents a landscape dominated by a series of architectures of clear classicist inspiration, recalling Roman temples of Doric capitals. In the foreground, there is a series of figures where Christ stands out for the small halo of light that surrounds his head and for the color of his clothes; he addresses a male figure seated on the ground. Other characters provide movement and contribute to the lines created in the work. The work reflects a biblical theme mentioned in the Gospel of St. John (5:1-18): the porticoes are shown, and the artificial pool and, as indicated in the text, is the indication of Christ that the paralytic takes his stretcher and the one that heals him rises, a moment that is clearly seen in the painting.
Aesthetically the work is reminiscent of the style of Juan De La Corte, Flemish Baroque who developed much of his work in Madrid. The first news about De La Corte refers to a painting for the Palacio del Pardo, made in 1613. He must have continued to work for the royalty in successive years because, when the position of painter to the king, occupied by Bartolomé González, became vacant in 1627, he was one of the twelve painters who requested it, indicating in the memorial that he had been providing services to the king since 1615. The position, at that time, was left unfilled. In 1641 the ambassador of Modena in Madrid testified that Juan de la Corte was highly esteemed for his equestrian portraits, which he placed in the landscape Antonio de Puga. Juan de la Corte was, as he declared in the memorial of 1627, a painter of "architectures, battles and countries". Of this genre of paintings, abundant signed or documented works have been preserved since 1623, always showing his Flemish training and the use of prints of the same origin. His landscapes and architectural perspectives are usually populated with small figures forming biblical or mythological scenes. Sometimes they are grouped in series, such as the one dedicated to the Victories of Charles V, preserved in the Spanish Embassy in London, or those belonging to the cycle of the History of Troy, which he tackled on more than one occasion. To one of them, originally in the Buen Retiro Palace, belong the canvases of the Abduction of Helen and the Burning of Troy in the Prado Museum. To the same museum belongs the Battle of Gascona, belonging to a series of battles of modern history of which there is another scattered piece. He also painted a series of stories of the Old Testament for the Buen Retiro. It was lost but loose examples of the same story are preserved, such as the Destruction of Sennacherib's army in the Museo Cerralbo, signed in 1642. He was an esteemed painter, as shown by the inventories of the time, which frequently cite countries and battles painted by him.