Abdón Castañeda (c. 1580 - 30 September 1629) was a Spanish

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

painter. Little is known of Castañeda's life outside of his works. In 1607 he is mentioned as absent from a meeting of the Association of Artists of Valencia. No more news of him until 1616, which documented the date of his registration in the local Painters Association. By 1620 he moved to

Segorbe Segorbe is a municipality in the mountainous coastal province of Castelló, Valencia (autonomous community), autonomous community of Valencia, Spain. The former Palace of the Dukes of Medinaceli now houses the city's mayor. Segorbe's bull-running ...

(

Province of Castellón Castellón (); co-officially in ) is a province in the northern part of the Valencian Community. It is bordered by the provinces of Valencia to the south, Teruel to the west, Tarragona to the north, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the east. T ...

) to work together with

Juan de Ribera Juan de Ribera (Seville, Spain, 20 March 1532 – Valencia, 6 January 1611) was an influential figure in 16th and 17th century Spain. Ribera held appointments as Archbishop and Viceroy of Valencia, Latin Patriarchate of Antioch, Commander in ...

, and

Vicente Castelló Vicente Castelló (c. 1585, Valencia - 1636, Valencia) was a Spanish painter in the Baroque art, Baroque style. He was a son-in-law of Francisco Ribalta, whose painting style was similar; as was that of his brother-in-law, Juan Ribalta, leadin ...

in the Augustinian monastery of St. Martin, corresponding to

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

s of Conception and St. Ursula, completed in 1623. Castañeda's style is defined by elongated canon of the figures, little vertical movement, oval face, friendly and sparsely expressive, surrounded by a multitude of angels using a fleshy archaic concept. No less archaic are the robes, with gold prints minutely described, away from naturalism. The same features are seen in the Virgin angelic musicians of the

Museu de Belles Arts de València The (; ; English: "Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia") is an art gallery in Valencia, Spain, founded in 1913. It houses some 2,000 works, most dating from the 14th–17th centuries, including a ''Self portrait of Diego Velázquez'', a ''St. John th ...

, from the Convent of the purity of Valencia, but certainly lacking in documentation related to these works of Segorbe. The same team of Juan Ribalta, Castelló and Castañeda executed between 1621 and 1626 the altarpiece doors Andilla, near Segorbe, which would correspond the Betrothal of the Virgin and the Flight to Egypt, in poor condition. After these works no more news until the reporting his death on 30 September 1629 in Valencia. Castañeda's style has been compared with

Francisco Ribalta Francesc Ribalta (2 June 1565 – 12 January 1628), also known as ''Francisco Ribaltá'' or ''de Ribalta'', was a Spanish painter of the Baroque period, mostly of religious subjects. Biography He was born in Solsona, Lleida. Although his fir ...

, and the similarities have resulted in confusions of attribution on some occasions.

External links and references

* Benito Domenech, Fernando, Los Ribalta and Valencian painting of his time, exhibition catalog, Valencia, Madrid, 1987, * Kowal, David M. (1985). Ribalta and ribaltescos: the evolution of Baroque style in Valencia. Valencia: Valencia Provincial Council. . 1580 births 1629 deaths 17th-century Spanish painters Spanish male painters {{Spain-painter-stub