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The Conversion and Baptism of St. Augustine by St. Ambrose (ca.1673)

Juan de Valdes Leal (1622-1690),Spanish, oil on canvas

Dimensions:

65 1/8 in. × 43 in. (165.4 × 109.2 cm)
framed: 77 1/4 × 54 7/8 × 3 3/4 in. (196.2 × 139.4 × 9.5 cm)

(Held in SLAM, Gallery 236)

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I chose these paintings to fit my monographic exhibition for its depiction of a saint, and a reoccurring theme of the halos Juan includes in most Saint Portraiture.

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detail of The Conversion and Baptism of St. Augustine by St. Ambrose

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detail of The Conversion and Baptism of St. Augustine by St. Ambrose

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detail of The Conversion and Baptism of St. Augustine by St. Ambrose

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[Saint Dominic de Guzmán]

Juan de Valdes Leal (1625-1690),Spanish, Seville

1675-1679

Dimensions 70 x 33 cm

Donated by Joan Prats i Tomàs, 1973

Oil on canvas

17th Century

For this composition, it is a little different. The artwork displays characteristics of Baroque art style, yes, but not in a way that’s dark or displays a more dramatic tenebrosity like the artworks selected prior. There is a subdue glow to St. Dominic- to his face, his clothes, etc. He’s caught in the moment of holding his chest and looking up in a ¾ view. There’s a movement in the brush stroke of his garb that matches his pose. He appears to be holding lilies, which as we know, are symbols of purity and highly associated with the Virgin Mary.

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The Disputation Of Saint Jerome

Juan de Valdés Leal

(Spanish, 1622–1690)

THE DISPUTATION OF SAINT JEROME

oil on canvas

226.5 x 252 cm. (89.2 x 99.2 in.)

I wanted to add this piece in specific, due to its ability to capture so much energy and dynamism as a group piece. This piece became a part of King-Loius Philippe of France Gallery, displayed in the Louvre. This saint is depicted as someone of intelligence and of community. Due to the visual cues, he’s preparing to write things down, but in the company of others. ¾ of the guys there are all directing their eyes to Jerome, while one is carrying mysterious text. In this artwork, two Hieronymite order monks are positioned behind Saint Jerome's chair as he sits at a table with a quill pen in hand. Their religious attire consists of a white tunic paired with a brown cloak and hooded scapular.

The final known surviving painting from the series is this canvas. One of only two episodes known to have left Spain and joined the French royal collection.

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Saint John the Evangelist

Juan de Valdes Leal (1625-1690),Spanish

Dimensions: 70 x 33 cm

Donated by Joan Prats i Tomàs, 1973

Oil on canvas

What I appreciate about this work is its attention to detail in the clothing and the brush strokes creating this movement through the drapery. With Saint John the Evangelist, we have movement created by his flowing hair and stance of him looking up with his halo. He is holding what could arguably be a palm frond, that symbolizes him being martyred. He also is associated with an eagle at the bottom left. The eagle is symbolic because it’s comparable to the ability of God and how the eagle flies the highest and have the ability to look into the sun.

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Saint Peter Repentant (ca. 1657)

Juan de Valdes Leal (1625-1690),Spanish

oil on canvas

height: 185.4 cm (72.9 in) ; width: 121.9 cm (47.9 in)

I think this work not only embodies the Baroque style, but it also embodies this moment of ‘Devotional Art’. Reason I say Devotional Art is not only its subject matter, but its tenebrism and its Caravaggesque traits it’s displaying through these religious figure s (Poole-Jones 2024.) We see Saint Peter in this action pose, looking up. In the title, repentant is an implied title for St. Peter; a person who is showing or saying sorry for the things they’ve done. In this scene, one can infer he’s attempting to show his redemption, and that he’s attempting to repent for his doings. There’s a glow that happens in two places. 1st in the foreshortened view up close and the next glow reappears St. Peter talking to a crowd in the same garb.

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Virgin of the Immaculate Conception with Saints Andrew and John the Baptist (ca.1650 )

Juan de Valdés Leal

(Spanish, 1622–1690)

oil on canvas

height: 234 cm (92.1 in); width: 167 cm (65.7 in)

(now being held in Museum: Department of Paintings of the Louvre)

I wanted to add this piece because of its movement and its characteristics to the Baroque style. The facial expressions of the two Saints can only be caught in a moment of time, along with the faces of the angels surrounding her Virgin Mary. The Saints are a part of Jesus’s life, which is why they're of significance to this artwork. The only subject that is returning the gaze is St. John the Baptist. St. Andrew is seen to be on the right, as is it discussed via ‘PureandLowly’ on WordPress, that St. Andrew was on the verge of being an Apostle of Jesus, and that his gaze to Virgin Mary foreshadows his calling from Jesus to be his Apostle. The flowers were also mentioned to be symbolic: A rose symbolizing time and Christ and a lily symbolizing virginity. ¹

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Saint Anthony of Padua and the Child Jesus

Juan de Valdés Leal (Spanish, 1622–1690)

(AC. 1665-1669)

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

176 x 113.5cm

Origin:

Acquisition of the Ministry of Culture (1982)

I found this choice of artwork interesting, due to its tenebrism and the dual symbolism in the diagonal. We have St. Anthony, who is the patron saint of lost things/articles looking up at the Child Jesus, in which they’re both in movement. They create this diagonal with the movement of their hands and the effects of light are seen in their faces hands and the Child’s legs. While the Saint has a halo, the Child Jesus has a halo like glow around his face. Near his right hand is a book with text (one could infer a religious text) We see lilies in the composition, as a sign of virginity. The Child Jesus standing atop the Angels's faces. Their body languages open such a broad discussion as to what the motions of both mean.

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Saint John the Baptist (ca. 1659-60)

Juan de Valdés Leal (Spanish, 1622–1690)

oil on canvas

178 × 121 cm

(Seville, Museo de Bellas Artes)

After reading about this, I definitely wanted to add this into the theme. Visual cues could indicate to the viewer that we’re looking at St. John. Cues and attributes such as: the Lamb (that references the Lamb of God), the ribbon, etc. We see a foreshortened pose of St. John, along with this half nude, half garb situation that was quite the risk to display for a religious figure, as a Seville artist at the time. The fact that very faintly in the background, you can see the Saint reappear to stand on a boulder to preach to the crowd. It's clear, visually, that he takes up a lot of the composition.¹

1. Juan Valdes Leal, “Saint John the Baptist ,” Museo Del Nacional Prado , August 24, 2015, Museo del Prado, Madrid, https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/saint-john-the-baptist/8baf8a37-0735-4a78-a4be-7fc936b0cd77.

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So, my chosen piece was The Conversion and Baptism of St. Ambrose by Juan de Valdes Leal.

For a little background, he’s a Spanish painter from Seville who co-founded the Seville Art Academy with Bartolome Esteban Murillo. He became a major figure in Sevillian painting for quite a while. Valdes Leal was most known for his drama- he was known for his innovation, and often how violent his paintings get. His mentor was Antonio del Castillo, while he was educated in Córdoba, Spain. He spent a few years after 1653 painting in both Córdoba and Seville. Some of his biggest influences were Francisco de Herrera the Elder, Caravaggio, and his mentor Castillo. Two of his most infamous works were donated to the Brotherhood of Charity in Seville, titled ”Ictu Oculi” and “Finis gloriae mundi’, as these pieces were the depicting visual factors of inevitable death and salvation. He explored into the vanitas art style, including human skull in a few of his works.

In the meanwhile, these two artworks were what picked up the attention of Ambrosio Spinola (aka Saint Ambrose), and around the time of 1673, in the peak of his career, he commissioned Juan Valdes Leal to paint the series “Life of Saint Ambrose”¹.

For some background on Saint Ambrose, also known as Ambrosio Spinola, originally was the bishop of Milan. Though Archbishop Spinola was Spanish, yes, there's quite some Italian heritage to the archbishop’s lineage. His grandfather, Don Pablo Spinola was governor of Milan. His grandfather was a general, known as General Ambrogio Spinola and was honored by Philip III, titled as ‘Marques de Balbases’ in 1621. Ambrogio was also a former advisor to Philip IV, according to Kinkead.² Akin to the infamous Genoese family, he had quite the sad upbringing losing his mother at seven to be paged at court to Infante Carlos Balthasar. Following in the footsteps of Cardinal Spinola, his uncle, he later becomes appointed to be the next archbishop of Seville.

This series was made to honor the Archbishop Spinola in a way that isn’t common for Spanish royal court. This series of seven paintings would be in the Archbishops Palace in Seville. A lot of the architect behind the series of paintings were made to reference Seville, Spain. Out of the seven altarpieces, the centerpiece became “The Conversion and Baptism of St. Ambrose.” This work depicts two important aspects of Christian Saints life, while having a distinct brush stroke (almost an energy to it) and a lot of colored contrast. The first reference of this series was of Juan Augustine, yes. However, this was a series of paintings that were in unique in Spanish art, being one of Valdes Leal’s more innovative works. Kinkead discusses, “never before had they been combined in one image. Nor is there any other example in Valdes' oeuvre of such conspicuous continuous narrative (Kinkead p. 477).”

I chose this monographic exhibition/theme, initially out of ease and that it appeared simpler than my previous idea. What reeled me in, honestly, was the halos I kept seeing, with the images of Saints. They were so light and dainty, and such a thoughtful touch to those who are figures in Catholicism. But I later find out there’s a lot of Roman Catholic stories of Saints that were told/been told since the beginning of time (or since Counter-Reformation). What interested me about this exhibition was each Saint’s distinctive visual cue that allowed the viewer to know which Saint was which. It was very interesting to learn about these Saints and their contributions to this bigger picture of Catholicism and how Valdes Leal approached each and every Saint differently, keeping his style prominent throughout.

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I added one more citation for the Immaculate Conception** I couldn't resubmit on BB.