Ribera, José de

or Jusepe de Ribera

(baptized Feb. 17, 1591, Játiva, Spain—died Sept. 2, 1652, Naples) Spanish painter and printmaker. Though born in Spain, where he is said to have trained under Francisco Ribalta, he spent most of his life in Naples (then a Spanish possession). Most of his works are of religious subjects. Dramatic light and shadow and sometimes horrific detail emphasize the mental and physical suffering of penitent or martyred saints, as in The Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew (c. 1630). In later works his modeling is softer, his colours are richer, and he demonstrates strong human sympathy, as in The Clubfooted Boy (1642). His etchings are among the finest produced in Italy and Spain in the Baroque period.

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