Saint Francis Receives The 7 Privileges From The Angel by Jusepe de Ribera
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Jusepe de Ribera was a Spanish-Italian Tenebrist painter and printmaker. Ribera was a leading painter of the Spanish school, although his mature work was all done in Italy.
Ribera was born at Xàtiva, near Valencia, Spain. Longing to study art in Italy, he made his way to Rome via Parma, where he painted Saint Martin and the Beggar, now lost, for the church of San Prospero in 1611. According to one source, a cardinal noticed him drawing from the frescoes on a Roman palace facade, and housed him. Roman artists gave him the nickname "Lo Spagnoletto".
Ribera's work remained in fashion after his death, largely through the hyper-naturalistic depictions of cruel subjects in the paintings of such pupils as Luca Giordano.
A more than half-length depiction of the saint, standing in front of a skull and contemplating the angel who shows him a glass recipient filled with transparent water, alluding to the purity that anyone aspiring to the priesthood should possess. In his humility, the saint thinks he will never reach such perfection and renounces the calling. In keeping with the mentality of the Counterreformation, this subject was widespread during the seventeenth century. The skull and whip on a stone also allude to penitence and humility, as does the saint´s serge clothing. This is a work from the artist´s mature period. Echoes of tenebrism are still discernible, with strongly illuminated figures emerging from the darkness, and a careful rendering of the tactile qualities of the objects.
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