Francesc Ribalta (2 June 1565 – 12 January 1628), also known as ''Francisco Ribaltá'' or ''de Ribalta'', was a Spanish painter of the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

period, mostly of religious subjects.

Biography

He was born in

Solsona, Lleida Solsona () is a municipality and capital of the ''comarca'' of the Solsonès in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It has a population of . It is situated in the centre of the ''comarca'' in the Catalan Central Depression. It is serve ...

. Although his first apprenticeship was apparently with Navarrete, who worked for years in the

Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial and about n ...

, Ribalta's earliest work (a ''Cruxifixion'' of 1582) was signed in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. After his years in Madrid, Ribalta was to settle as an artist in Valencia. He became among the first followers in Spain of the austere tenebrist style of

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

. It is unclear if he directly visited either

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, where Caravaggio's style had many adherents. Ribalta-cristo muerto

Alternatively, it is likely that tenebrist paintings were available in Spain by the early 17th century through the Spanish rule of the Neapolitan kingdom.

Jusepe de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (; baptised 17 February 1591 – 3 November 1652) was a Spanish painter and Printmaking, printmaker. Ribera, Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artist ...

is said to have been one of his pupils, although it is entirely possible that Ribera acquired his tenebrism when he moved to Italy.

Style

The tenebrist style gathered a number of adherents in Spain, and was to influence the pre-eminent Baroque or

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

Spanish painters, especially Zurbarán, but also Velázquez and Murillo. Even the art of still life in Spain, the

bodegón The term ''bodega'' in Spanish language, Spanish can mean "pantry", "tavern", or "wine cellar". In general usage, the derivative term ''bodegón'' is an augmentative that refers to a large ''bodega'', usually in a derogatory fashion. In Spanish ar ...

, was often painted in a similar stark and austere style. Among the direct disciples of Francisco were his son, Juan Ribalta, Antonio Bisquert, and his son-in-law, Vicente Castelló. Ribalta died in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

on 12 January 1628.

Honours

A park and a monument bears his name along with his son in Castelló. Also the oldest high school of that city and its province.

Works

* ''

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

'', his first work. * Some works in

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial, Madrid, El ...

. * ''Martyrdom of St. Peter'' * ''Martyr of St. Catherine'' (around 1605), oil on panel 123x108 cm, The Hermitage, Saint Petersburg * ''Portrait of Margarita Agulló'' (around 1605) * ''The Vision of Father Francisco Jerónimo Simon'', also known as the ''Venerable Simon'' (1612–19), oil on panel, 211x111 cm, National Gallery, London * ''St. Francis Comforted by the Angel'' (''San Francisco confortado por un ángel músico'') (around 1620), oil on panel, 204x158 cm, Musel del Prado, Madrid * '' Christ embracing Saint Bernard'' around 1625 * ''Ramon Llull'' (around 1620) * ''Saint Roch'' (around 1625), oil on panel 124x60 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes, Valencia * ''Saint Sebastian'' (around 1625), oil on panel, 124x60 cm, Museo des Bellas Artes, Valencia * ''The Gospel of Saint Luke'' (1625–27), oil on canvas 83x36 cm, Museo de Portacoeli, Valencia

Bibliography

*Benito Domenech, Fernando (1987). ''Los Ribalta y la pintura valenciana de su tiempo'', Valencia-Madrid. . *Benito Domenech, Fernando y Vallés Borrás, Vicent Joan (1989).
Un proceso a Francisco Ribalta en 1618
. Boletín de la Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (69): p. 143-168. *Falomir Faus, Miguel (1998-1999). "Imágenes de una santidad frustrada: el culto a Francisco Jerónimo Simón, 1612-1619". Locvs Amoenvs (4): p. 171-183. * *Kowal, David M. (1985). ''Ribalta y los ribaltescos: La evolución del estilo barroco en Valencia''. Valencia, Diputación Provincial. . * Palomino, Antonio, '' An account of the lives and works of the most eminent Spanish painters, sculptors and architects'', 1724, first English translation, 1739, p. 28 *Palomino, Antonio (1988). ''El museo pictórico y escala óptica III. El parnaso español pintoresco laureado''. Madrid, Aguilar S.A. de Ediciones. . * Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E. (1992). ''Baroque Paintings in Spain (1600-1750)''. Cátedra, Madrid. . *Piombo (1995). ''Sebastiano del Piombo in Spain''. Madrid, Museo del Prado, .

References

External links

*
Jusepe de Ribera, 1591-1652
', a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which includes material on Francisco Ribalta (see index)
Biography at the Museo del Prado Online Encyclopedia which includes the full exhibition catalog

Digital works of Francisco Ribalta
at the Hispánica Digital Library at the Spanish National Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Ribalta, Francisco 1565 births 1628 deaths People from Solsonès Painters from the Valencian Community Catholic painters 16th-century Spanish painters Spanish male painters 17th-century Spanish painters Caravaggisti Spanish Roman Catholics