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The Spanish Invasion

Title: The Ecstasy of St. Francis of Assisi: The Vision of the Musical Angel, about 1620-1625
Artist: Francisco Ribalta (Spanish, 1565–1628)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Permanent Collection: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT.
The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund
Image Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

El Greco to Velázquez:
Art during the Reign of Philip III
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
April 20 – July 27, 2008

Living in the shadow of an accomplished father, never quite achieving his successes was not a stranger to royalty. Philip II spoke openly of his lack of faith in his son and heir. Philip III of Spain ascended the throne in 1598 and ruled until his death in 1621. This was the time of El Greco's last years and the beginnings of perhaps Spain's greatest ever artist: Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez.

Royalty were the foremost art patrons having the resources to order commissions and the vanity to wish to be remembered if not for the deeds then their vast collections and support of home grown talent that would progress, patriotically, beyond their borders.

Philip III's reign brought a freer style to the artists. Asture portraiture gave way to ostentatious displays of wealth. Notably it was during this time frame that the genre of still life became popular.

El Greco : Domenikos Theotokopoulos

El Greco was vocally dismissive of Michelangelo's style. It made him some significant enemies and he emigrated to Spain. First he lived in Madrid but eventually he settled in Toledo, when it was considered to be the religious capital of the country. His timing was impeccable Philip II of Spain needed artists to bring the Renaissance to Spain. El Greco's first Spanish commission was to paint nine works for the Santo Domingo el Antiguo church in Toledo. El Greco's goal, to impress the Spanish King, was achieved with the success of his first commission. He hadn't planned to remain in Toledo but further commissions came his way, two for the King.

Unfortunately for El Greco, Philip II disliked the finished works, Allegory of the Holy League and Martyrdrom of St. Maurice. They were the only two commissions El Greco ever received from Philip II. Losing the King's favor meant he wasn't able to return to Madrid, and instead remained in Toledo where he did receive other commissions.

St. James the Major (Santiago el Mayor) has all the elements of a mature El Greco work. The figure is tall and slender. Measure and proportion were not the most important criteria for El Greco. It was imagination.

Fray Hortensio Félix Paravicino was a poet, humanist and a monk. He was a court preacher to both Philip III and his son and heir Philip IV.

The two men were friends, as El Greco painted a portrait of Fray Hortensio, the poet returned the favor. No less than six sonnets about the artist.

This exhibit will include El Greco's only mythological painting Laocoön.

Juan van der Hamen y León

Title: Still Life with Sweets, 1621
Artist: Juan van der Hamen y León (Spanish, 1596–1631)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Permanent Collection: Museo de Bellas Artes, Granada
Image Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Still life was considered a lesser subject for many years. Sexism crept into the style, for female artists often found themselves restricted to painting in this genre. It began to gain popularity in the 17th Century.

Baroque artist Juan van der Hamen y León was recognized as a master of the Spanish style of Bodegón or bodega paintings. He is credited with popularizing the genre in his homeland.

Van der Hamen favored several subjects besides still life such as portraiture, allegorical works, history paintings and landscapes. He was one of the first noted Spanish artists to paint floral works.

Juan Sánchez Cotán

Title: Still Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber, about 1600
Artist: Juan Sánchez Cotán, Spanish, 1560-1627
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Permanent Collection: San Diego Museum of Art,
Gift of Misses Anne R. and Amy Putnam
Image Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Juan Sánchez Cotán favored an austere type of still life work. He was a popular artist in his time, receiving many commissions to paint religious works, portraits and of course still life paintings in Toledo, Spain.

Born in Orgaz, which is close to Toledo, he opted to enter Santa Maria de El Paular a Carthusian monastery in 1603. From that time on all of his creations were done on behalf of his monastery.

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez

Velázquez was the leading artist in Philip IV's court. As noted, his career began during the latter part of Philip III's reign.

The Immaculate Conception is one of the earliest known Velázquez works. After he became court painter to Philip IV, in 1623, Velázquez rarely painted religious scenes concentrating his time mostly on portraits.

Simple piety, such as the setting for the image of the Madonna, was a key component found in Velázquez's religious subjects.

“This internationally important exhibition provides an unprecedented opportunity to illuminate the reign of one of Spain’s most understudied kings, Philip III,” said Malcolm Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund Director of the Museum of Fine Arts. “The MFA is pleased to sponsor new scholarship that will lead to a better understanding of this period, and to bring to Boston masterpieces by some of Spain’s greatest painters.”

El Greco to Velázquez
Art during the Reign of Philip III
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston:
April 20 – July 27, 2008
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University:
August 21 – November 9, 2008