(Jativa 1591–1652 Naples)
Saint Francis in meditation,
oil on canvas, 101.2 x 78.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Naples;
European private collection

Literature:
N. Spinosa, Ribera: l’opera completa, Naples 2003, p. 365, under no. A294, ill.

Spinosa dates the present painting to circa 1643 and it is closely related to the signed and dated Saint Francis from the Medici collection (Florence, Galleria Palatina di Palazzo Pitti) (op. cit. Spinosa, 2003, no. A294), which however shows a different iconographic solution.

The present work displays Ribera’s mature style, combining his distinctive naturalism with a new spiritual intensity and a more fluid technique. This can be seen in the sober and intense composition, with the Saint absorbed in prayer in front of the crucifix and the skull, masterly balanced between naturalism and a more refined painterly manner. The chromatic tones and the skillful use of light carry the attention of the viewer to the emaciated face of Saint Francis with half-closed lips and the strongly lit hands, which contribute to create an image of spirituality.

The work is comparable to the series of figures of saints painted by Ribera in the same period (Saint John the Baptist, Saint Bartholomew, The Magdalene in Prayer; all in the Prado Museum, Madrid) and to the Saint John the Evangelist sold in these rooms (Dorotheum, 13 April 2011, I, lot 481).

The present painting must have been influential as various variants are known, such as the version formerly in the Sabatello collection in Rome, mentioned by Spinosa (op. cit. Spinosa, 2003, no. A294), one by the studio of Ribera (Chartes, Musée des Beaux Arts, see A. Brejon de Lavergnée- N. Volle, Musées de France. Répertoire des peintures italiennes du XVII siècle, Paris, 1988, p. 408).