Pietà (Ribera, Madrid)

The Pietà is a painting by José de Ribera, "The Españoleto", painted, signed and dated in 1633.

The Pietà
Spanish: La Piedad
ArtistJosé de Ribera
Year1633 (1633)
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions157 cm × 210 cm (62 in × 83 in)
LocationMuseo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Description

The painting is in oils on canvas and its dimensions are 157 x 210 cm. It is owned by the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid.[1]

Ribera painted two other known canvases of the same subject. One is in the San Martino Museum and the other is in the National Gallery, London.

History

The painting comes from the collection of the Marquis de Heredia. The work's commissioner is unknown. The canvas is signed in the lower right corner on a rock according to the usual formula the artist used at the time: "Jusepe de Ribera 1633 Spanish." Ribera was one of the most prolific painters, both in the quantity of works that came out of his workshop and its quality.

Ribera painted the subject of the Pietá on numerous occasions and with many different variations throughout his life. The earliest of his extant Pietás dates to 1620 (National Gallery) whilst two others were produced in 1633 (Thyssen Museum) and 1637 (Charterhouse of San Martino, Naples).

Description

The work is part of a transition period in which the artist, without leaving the shadows of tenebrism, began to experiment with new coloring. The body of Christ is framed horizontally to other figures in the composition. On the right John the Apostle subject's back while lying at her feet, Mary Magdalene kisses with grief. In the center, veiled by the chiaroscuro technique it shows us a Mary with a face ravaged by pain looking to the sky while hands together in prayer. Finally, the bottom right, the face of Joseph of Arimathea is appreciated.

The spotlight of the composition focuses on the recumbent body giving an appearance of marble statue that enhances the expression of the physical pain of his wounds (especially from his side), the psychic pain expressed in his face, and the laxity of the body.[2]

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References
  1. Bornemisza, Museo Thyssen. "Museo Thyssen Bornemisza". www.museothyssen.org (in Spanish). Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  2. "La Piedad". www.europeana.eu. Retrieved 2016-05-01.

Sources
  • Spinosa, Nicola (1978). Obra pictórica completa de Ribera. Noguer. ISBN 8427987676.
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