(Jàtiva 1591–1652 Naples)
Saint Francis of Paola,
signed and dated: Jusepe de Ri/bera. espanol./ 1640 f (?),
oil on canvas, 77 x 63.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

We are grateful to Nicola Spinosa for confirming the attribution after examining the present painting in the original and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

In the present composition the hermit saint is shown holding a pilgrim’s staff and a sheet of paper on which is written the word ‘CHARITAS’. The Franciscan saint was born in the small town of Paola where in 1453 he founded the Order of the Minims. He was canonised in 1519 and he was made the patron saint of the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily by Urban VIII in 1630.

Due to the popularity of the saint following his canonisation, Ribera returned to this subject on various occasions during his long career. Other autograph versions of the subject differ in size and among these, the best known is in the Valerio collection in Geneva, which is also signed and dated 1640 (73.5 x 65 cm) and was once in the collection of the Infante of Spain, Don Sebastián Gabriel de Borbón. Another autograph version is in a private collection with a provenance from the Hofrat von Urbantschitsch collection, Vienna, last recorded in the Helbing sale, Munich of 4 July 1922 (74 x 62 cm). Another signed replica was offered at Sotheby’s, London on 8 July 1992, lot 8, with a provenance from the collection of Sir William FitzHerbert, 4th Baronet of St. Helens (75 x 52.5 cm). A variant of uncertain attribution was sold at Sotheby’s New York in June 1983, lot 93, which reveals minimal iconographic divergences from the other known versions (74.5 x 61 cm). There are also numerous period copies, each taken from one or other of the original versions executed by collaborators working in Ribera’s studio after 1640.

The present version, like the one in the Valerio collection, is distinctive for the high quality of the painterly technique and its refinement in the rendering of expression together with the notable realism in the depiction of the figure’s features and clothes. In the present work Ribera masterfully combines his past experience of a realist painter following Caravaggio with the more recent influences from his maturity, which from 1635, display the influence of Van Dyck and Guido Reni as well as his understanding of the various expressions of neo-Venetian painting. Ribera’s style became increasingly painterly, revealing a particular attention to creating luminosity and correlated colour values. Examples of this are the canvases representing Prophets begun in 1638 for the Certosa di San Martino, Naples, and the portraits of apostles, philosophers and the scientists also painted by Ribera around 1640.