Luis Tristán de Escamilla - The Adoration of the Magi - WGA23066

Luis Tristán de Escamilla, also known as Luis de Escamilla or Luis Rodríguez Tristán (c.1585,

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

- 1624, Toledo), was a Spanish painter in the mannerist style.

Life and work

He was born into a family of merchants and artisans. In 1603, he entered the workshop of

El Greco Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El G ...

, and remained there until 1606. He initially imitated his teacher's style to the extent that many of his works have been attributed to him and vice versa. After El Greco's son, Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli, Tristán is considered to be his principle follower. He then spent seven years in Italy, returning home around 1613. He would work exclusively in Toledo for the rest of his life. His post-Italian work showed the influence of the

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 ...

and the general aesthetic approach of the

Counter-reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

. Apart from a few realistic portraits, his work is religious in focus. Although his figures show the distortions typical of his master, he introduced elements from daily life, rendered in a naturalistic style that offsets their lack of realism. His most important works may be a set of paintings made for the main altarpiece at the church of Saint

Benedict of Nursia Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Orient ...

Yepes Yepes is a ''villa'' (town) in the northern region of the province of Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. Population *The first numbers about the population of Yepes date back to 1534 and account for some 4000 o ...

, from approximately 1616, which includes six scenes from the life of Jesus and eight half-figures of various saints. During the Spanish Civil War, the altar was largely destroyed, but the torn canvases were repaired at 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 ...

and all but two were returned to the church in 1942. Other works include " Saint Louis Distributing Alms", currently in the Louvre, and "The Round of Bread and Eggs" at the

Museum of Santa Cruz The Museum of Santa Cruz () is an art, archaeology and ethnographic museum located in the historic centre of the city of Toledo, Spain. It exhibits collections pertaining to the province of Toledo, including works painted by El Greco in the city ...

. One of his best-known students was the

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

painter,

Pedro de Camprobín Pedro de Camprobín Passano (1605, Almagro - 22 July 1674, Seville) was a Spanish Baroque painter who specialized in still-lifes; primarily flowers. Life and work His father, Pedro, was a silversmith and his mother, Juana (née Passano) was d ...

Sources

* Antonio Palomino, '' An account of the lives and works of the most eminent Spanish painters, sculptors and architects'', 1724, first English translation, 1739, p. 35 *Alfonso Pérez Sánchez and Benito Navarrete Prieto, ''Luis Tristán 1585-1624'', Ediciones del Umbral, 2001

External links

Luis Tristán on Artcyclopedia
*
Jusepe de Ribera, 1591-1652
', a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which includes material on Luis Tristan (see index)
Luis Tristán at the Museo del Prado Online Encyclopedia
a full text exhibition catalog which includes material on Luis Tristán

@ Artnet People from Toledo, Spain 1586 births 1624 deaths Spanish Baroque painters {{Spain-painter-stub Catholic painters