Antonio José Estruch Martínez

ANTONIO JOSÉ ESTRUCH MARTÍNEZ (Valencia, 1835 - 1907).
"Tobias and the angel", 1887.
Oil on panel.
Signed in the lower left corner. Signed and dated on the back.
Measurements: 27 x 20 cm, 42 x 35.5 cm (frame).
Placed in a landscape, two figures appear in the foreground: a winged one, luxuriously dressed, and, next to him, a young man with humbler clothes. The painting shows the previous moment in which Tobias, following the instructions of the angel, prepares to tear out the heart and entrails of a huge fish to cure his father's blindness (Book of Tobit: VII, 15). According to the biblical passage, the scene in which Tobias and Raphael stop at Lake Tiberias where Tobias catches the fish that will cure his father's blindness, takes place at sunset. And it is precisely the event of the fishing that is represented in most of the paintings, being this oil painting something exceptional as it does not represent the fish or the river, but the previous moment. The golden light of the sunset can be appreciated, reflected in the left zone of the composition, where the landscape is open to the horizon. Aesthetically, the clarity of the tones used by the author, who works with a range of pastel colors, as can be seen in the mantle of San Rafael. The author of the work is José Estruch, trained at the Academy of San Carlos, completing his studies in Italy, where he traveled after completing his degree in Fine Arts in order to find a more international and cosmopolitan training. It was there where Estruch copied paintings by great masters of the Renaissance such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Dürer, Raphael, among others. This trip to Italy provoked a situation in which he had not yet defined his style and this led to an even more solitary character. Even so, he continued to copy "Madonnas" by Raphael. In 1877, he won a silver medal with his "Guillem de Vinatea", which prompted him to seek popularity outside Valencia. Thus, he traveled to Madrid where a year later he spontaneously painted "17 heads in the urinals of the Buen Retiro de Madrid", where he captured the vices and virtues of society. Unfortunately, Estruch decided not to confess to being the author, and he dedicated his time to religious works, commissions, as well as to the materialization of portraits. Around 1864, he continued to produce religious works inspired by the Renaissance artist Juan de Juanes, among them a Salvador, an oil painting on panel that is preserved in the Museo Nacional del Prado, although it came from the Church of Fuente la Higuera in Valencia, or a Holy Family, also oil on panel, which is currently located in Huesca. The painter was forced to stay in Valencia and work in this artistic style since he had not yet found his personal style. Three years later, at the age of 32, Estruch discovered Goya's engravings and was surprised to see those carefree representations, as well as appreciating the Aragonese painter's courageous way of expressing indignation, this interior scene being an example of his influence. In the following years he continued to attend to numerous portrait commissions while drawing and admiringly capturing the Goyaesque style he had known in the famous engravings.