Juan Antonio Ribera Fernandez, also Juan Antonio de Ribera (May 27, 1779 – June 15, 1860) was a Spanish painter.

Early life and career

Ribera was born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, was a student of

Francisco Bayeu y Subías Francisco Bayeu y Subías (9 March 1734, Zaragoza – 4 August 1795, Madrid) was a Spanish painter in the Neoclassic style, whose main subjects were religious and historical themes. He is best known for his frescoes. His brothers Ramón and ...

, and probably had on occasion met with

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

. He participated in 1802 in the annual competition of the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...

with a copy of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

's ''Pasmo de Sicilia''. He won a prize that allowed him to be awarded a scholarship in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. There he worked in the studio of

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

, where he produced his notable ''

Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus ( – ) was a Roman patrician, statesman, and military leader of the early Roman Republic who became a legendary figure of Roman virtue—particularly civic virtue—by the time of the late Republic. Cincinnatus was ...

leaving the plow to make laws to Rome''.

Exile

He went into exile during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

. In 1811, Ribera was appointed court painter by the exiled

Charles IV of Spain , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles III of Spain , mother =Maria Amalia of Saxony , birth_date =11 November 1748 , birth_place =Palace of Portici, Portici, Naples , death_date = , death_place = ...

, who he accompanied to Rome, where he was appointed a member of the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

. After

King Ferdinand VII of Spain Ferdinand VII ( es, Fernando VII; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was a Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. He was known to his supporter ...

returned to Spain, Ribera was later confirmed as court painter in 1816, although he remained in Rome until 1818 painting works he had already been commissioned for.

Museo del Prado

In 1820

Vicente López y Portaña Vicente is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name ''Vincentius'' meaning "conquering" (from Latin ''vincere'', "to conquer"). Vicente may refer to: Location *São Vicente, Cap ...

established the

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

. Ribera's tenure as director of the same organization began in 1857, replacing

José de Madrazo y Agudo José Sotero de Madrazo y Agudo (22 April 1781 – 8 May 1859) was a Spanish painter and engraver; one of the primary exponents of the Neoclassical style in Spain. He was the patriarch of a family of artists that included his sons Federico ...

. In his term the Museum published the fifth catalog of works (1858), in force until the publication of the sixth in 1872. In 1857 he was appointed First Court Painter by

Isabel II of Spain Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...

. He died in Madrid on June 15, 1860.

Legacy

Despite his short work, Ribera is considered one of the characteristic representatives of

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...

in Spain, together with

and

José Aparicio José Aparicio e Inglada (16 December 1773 – 10 May 1838) was a Spanish painter in the Neoclassical style; closely associated with the reign of King Ferdinand VII. Biography He was born in Alicante, the seventh of eight children in a middl ...

. He was also an important teacher and directed the Museo del Prado between 1857 and 1860, succeeded by

Federico de Madrazo Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz (9 February 181510 June 1894) was a Spanish painter. Biography Born in Rome, he was the son of José de Madrazo y Agudo, the painter and former Director of the Prado Museum. Federico's grandfather on his mother side ...

. He was the father of the painter

Carlos Luis de Ribera y Fieve Carlos Luis de Ribera y Fieve (1815, Rome – April 14, 1891, Madrid) was a Spanish painter, son of Juan Antonio Ribera. Early life and education Baptismal godparents were the former king Charles IV of Spain, King Charles IV and Maria Luisa ...

References

* LAFUENTE FERRARI, Enrique: Brief history of Spanish painting. Madrid: Akal, 1987, p. 439. * VOX, "Ribera y Fernández de Velasco, Juan Antonio", Encyclopedia of the Prado Museum 1779 births 1860 deaths 19th-century Spanish painters 19th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters Spanish Baroque painters Artists from Madrid Directors of the Museo del Prado {{spain-painter-stub