Jusepe de Ribera

Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652), Spanish painter and printmaker, who inaugurated the tradition of realism in Spanish art. Ribera was born in Játiva, Spain, near Valencia, and in 1616 he settled in the city of Naples, which was then a possession of the Spanish crown. He concentrated on religious subjects but also became the first Spanish painter to depict mythological themes. His early works were influenced by the dramatic chiaroscuro (contrasts of light and shadow) of the Italian painter Caravaggio and by the loose expressive brushwork of the Venetian painter Titian. His taste gravitated toward gloomy, severe, even horrible subjects—particularly martyrdoms and scenes of torture such as St. Sebastian Transfixed with Arrows (1635?, Prado, Madrid)—which he imbued with dramatic emotional intensity. In his later works he used freer composition and lighter colors, creating softly atmospheric renderings in which the personal, inner life of the characters was the most important element. This ability to portray the character and dignity of the individual, so evident in paintings such as the Clubfooted Boy (1652, Louvre, Paris), was Ribera's principal legacy to later Spanish art.