142 - JUSEPE DE RIBERA, known as LO SPAGNOLETTO (Xàtiva 1591 – Naples 1652)

JUSEPE DE RIBERA, known as LO SPAGNOLETTO (Xàtiva 1591 – Naples 1652) The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew Etching and burin print, 17th century. Wear and foxing. Dimensions: 17.2 × 11.7 cm A comparable copy is held at the British Museum, London (inv. W,6.108). The Valencian painter and engraver Jusepe de Ribera, who had settled in Naples, engraved one of his most famous etchings in 1624: The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew. The motif of the executioner holding his knife between his teeth while flaying the saint’s arm became one of the most striking images of Neapolitan naturalism. It was taken up by other painters, such as Francisco Camilo, whose painting in the Prado reproduces the posture of the main executioner almost identically. This sheet isolates this central group, in contrast, and attests to the widespread use of the composition, likely as a study model for artists.