Juan Fernández, nicknamed El Labrador, was a Spanish Baroque painter active between 1629 and 1636, specializing in

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

painting.

Biography

Fernández was an enigmatic painter, who lived away from the court and turned to painting flowers and fruits, especially grapes as inventories collecting paintings of the time, a task with which he reached international reputation. Art historian

Antonio Palomino Acislo Antonio Palomino de Castro y Velasco (165513 April 1726) was a Spanish painter of the Baroque period, and a writer on art, author of ''El Museo pictórico y escala óptica'', which contains a large amount of important biographical mate ...

, devoted a few lines to "Juan Labrador Painter Illustrious", supposing him to be a disciple of

Luis de Morales Luis de Morales (1509 – 9 May 1586) was a Spanish painter active during the Spanish Renaissance in the 16th century. Known as "El Divino", most of his work was of religious subjects, including many representations of the Madonna and Child and ...

and who died in Madrid, very old, around 1600. Sir Arthur Hompton, secretary to Sir Francis Cottington, British diplomat at the court of Madrid, evident in his correspondence (1629-1635) was requested to acquire works of the painter, a task not without difficulty. Hopton stated in February 1635 that he had encouraged Fernández on occasion to paint flowers, and that "If they are as good as his fruits, his lordship must send for some of them". At least two works of the painter came to

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

, one of which, ''Still life with grapes, quince and nuts'', still belongs to the British

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

, which appeared in 1639 and inventoried. This oil painting, along with a vase in private collection signed "the farmer Ju ° fernandez 1636" are the only works that can confidently be considered from his hand, from which it has been possible to establish a style and attribute new works. Documentation shows ''Still life with four bunches of grapes'' for sale ''pieças de Uvas''

Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington (c. 15791652) was the English lord treasurer and ambassador and leader of the pro-Spanish, pro-Roman Catholic faction in the court of Charles I. Early life He was the fourth son of Philip Cottington of Go ...

, British ambassador in Madrid between 1629 and 1631. Fernández was

Caravaggisti The Caravaggisti (or the "Caravagesques") were stylistic followers of the late 16th-century Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio. His influence on the new Baroque style that eventually emerged from Mannerism was profound. Caravaggio never establish ...

in style. He put his objects on black backgrounds and used light directed to those objects,

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

style, described with almost Flemish detail, emphasizing its humble appearance. His international standing was completed with the arrival of one of his paintings to the French court to

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 unti ...

, sister of

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...

and wife of

Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

. In addition to the works with grapes, there were references to other fruits and flowers and even a landscape ('Payssico three quarters of high and average width Bara bunches of Ubas and some apricots (...) Labrador ") in the collection of Francisco Gonzalez Cossio, knight of Santiago, according to the inventory that it was made in 1671, which seems to indicate, despite the almost total absence of spatial references in his works known in his painting was not confined to the still lifes. In the meticulous inventory of the New Palace, in 1747, it is mentioned a philosopher portrait attribution to Labrador, which is undoubtedly the ''Philosopher writing'', from the royal collection deposited by 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 ...

at the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, it has a present student body of over 69.200, and is one of the top-ranked universi ...

References

* Aterido, Angel (2013). Juan Fernandez Labrador. Still lifes (exhibition catalog). Madrid: Prado Museum. . * Museo del Prado (1995). The beauty of the real. Vases and still lifes at the Museo del Prado 1600-1800. Catalogue of the exhibition. Madrid: Publyco S. A. . * Palomino, Antonio (1988). The pictorial museum optical scale III. The picturesque Spanish Parnassus laureate. Madrid: Aguilar S. A. Editions. . * Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E. (1983). Spanish Painting still life and vases from 1600 to Goya. Prado Museum, exhibition catalog. Madrid: Ministry of Culture. . * Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E. (1992). Baroque Painting in Spain 1600-1750. Madrid: Ediciones Chair S. A. . * Portus, ed., Javier (2006). The real faked. Spanish Still Life Naseiro collection purchased for the Prado. Madrid: Prado Museum. Catalogue of the exhibition. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez el Labrador, Juan Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 17th-century Spanish painters Spanish male painters Spanish Baroque painters