Saint Anthony by Viladomat
Saint Anthony of Padua with the Child Jesus and Angels, 1720–1755
Viladomat i Manalt, Antonio (Catalan: Antoni Viladomat i Manalt) (Barcelona, March 20, 1678 – January 22, 1755) was an 18th-century Spanish Baroque painter and one of the most famous Catalan painters of the same century. He was the son of the gilder Salvador Viladomat Ràfols and Francesca Manalt. His brother, Agustín Viladomat, followed in his father's footsteps.
According to historians, he learned his first lessons in the workshop of Pasqual Bailon Savall, a painter from Berga like his father, who painted part of the paintings in the Chapel of Saint Benedict at the Monastery of Sant Cugat.
His extensive career allowed him to paint for almost all of Barcelona's convents and monasteries, with religious painting being his most popular genre. The cycle of twenty paintings on the Life of Saint Francis of Assisi for the former Franciscan convent in Barcelona, now in the National Art Museum of Catalonia (on loan from the Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of San Jorge)
Antoni Viladomat's prestige can also be traced back to his confrontations with the College of Painters, which led him to file two lawsuits to secure his status as a licensed painter. He won both lawsuits, in 1723 and 1739, and never joined the College's guild. Numerous apprentices passed through his studio, where he taught the art of drawing—Viladomat was a great draftsman—seeking to perfect their skills or learn the rudiments of this difficult discipline.
Today, there is a street in Barcelona dedicated to this painter.
This image is a public domain image, which means either that copyright has expired in the image or the copyright holder has waived their copyright. Franciscan Gallery charges for the access to high resolution copy of the image. Manually restoration was necessary in order to improve quality, without covering the original image.
Comments
Post a Comment