Description

This title provides an illuminating and superbly written exploration of the work of Jose de Ribera, a leading figure in Spanish art. A leading figure in the baroque Spanish tradition – alongside El Greco, Velazquez and Zurbaran – Jose de Ribera s style was the most markedly Tenebrist (a style of painting in which the vivid and often violent contrasts between light and dark is one of the dominating features of the image) of his contemporaries. He was also one of the first artists of his time to be both a painter and printmaker. This gloriously illustrated book, written by Javier Portus – chief curator of the Spanish Baroque art department at the Museo del Prado in Madrid – takes a fresh look at Ribera s career, with a focus on his earlier work.