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Saint Paul the Hermit

Jusepe de Ribera (Spanish, before 1591-1652)

ca.1638 (Baroque)

oil on canvas

H: 52 1/4 x W: 42 in. (132.7 x 106.7 cm)

Description
Paul the Hermit was a 3rd-century saint who escaped persecution by retreating to the Egyptian desert, where he lived in continual meditation until he was more than 100 years old. The raven that sustained Paul by bringing him bread each day appears at the upper left. The skull prompted his meditation on the brevity of human life.

Ribera was born in Spain but worked in Italy. His use here of stark contrasts of light and dark, made popular by the Italian painter Caravaggio (1571-1610), highlights the modeling of the saint's emaciated torso. The thick paint and textured brushwork that evoke the wrinkled skin contribute to the realism of the image. This is critical to the emotional impact on the viewer of Paul as a model of personal penance that was central to Counter Reformation Catholic devotion.
Additional Information

Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902

37.278

Charles Street: Third Floor: 17th Century Art

Signed and dated lower right: Jusepe Ribera espanol valenciano F.1630 1636,1638 ?

Naples, Italy


Provenance

Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

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