''The Martyrdom of Saint Philip '' (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: ''Martirio de San Felipe'') is a painting by

Jusepe de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (1591 – 1652) was a painter and printmaker, who along with Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanish Baroque painting. Referring to ...

from 1639. It is considered one of his best works. The Spanish critic Eugenio d'Ors said of it " almost, almost like a Russian ballet." The painting is exhibited in 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 ...

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 ...

Description

For a long time it was thought that this painting represented the martyrdom of the apostle

Bartholomew Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

; an event that Ribera had painted several times. Only in 1953 was it established that the subject is

Philip the Apostle Philip the Apostle ( el, Φίλιππος; Aramaic: ܦܝܠܝܦܘܣ; cop, ⲫⲓⲗⲓⲡⲡⲟⲥ, ''Philippos'') was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the apostl ...

by the art historian Delphine Fitz Derby. Following the resurrection of Jesus, Philip was and his sister Mariamne together with Bartholomew preached in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empires ...

, and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. He was martyred in

Hierapolis Hierapolis (; grc, Ἱεράπολις, lit. "Holy City") was originally a Phrygian cult centre of the Anatolian mother goddess of Cybele and later a Greek city. Its location was centred upon the remarkable and copious hot springs in classica ...

when he was crucified. Ribera captures the moment when the preparations for the crucifixion are still in progress. He does so from a low perspective, giving the main characters monumentality and showing a large part of blue sky. Two executioners try to raise the apostle, while a third supports one of his legs. Bright sunlight illuminates his face that shows pain and resignation. The contrast of light and shadow enhances the dramatic effect. On the right there is a group of curious onlookers who appear to comment on the event. On the left, on the other hand, the people who appear are oblivious to what happens; there is a woman holding a little child in her arms and looking toward the viewer, putting a tender and delicate counterpoint to the cruelty that dominates the rest of the scene. Some critics have wanted to see an allegory of Charity in this figure. Judging by the treatment of color, the touches of brush and the splendid nude, this is a mature work by Ribera. It is less caravagesque than his previous works, showing the influence of

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...

and

Domenichino Domenico Zampieri (, ; October 21, 1581 – April 6, 1641), known by the diminutive Domenichino (, ) after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters. Life Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a shoem ...

History

''The Martyrdom of Saint Philip '' was likely commissioned by the II Duke of Medina de las Torres as a gift to

King 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 ...

;

was his patron saint. For a long time, the painting was part of the royal collection. It survived the fire in the Royal Alcázar in 1734 and was subsequently installed in the

Buen Retiro Palace Buen Retiro Palace (Spanish: ''Palacio del Buen Retiro'') in Madrid was a large palace complex designed by the architect Alonso Carbonell (c. 1590–1660) and built on the orders of Philip IV of Spain as a secondary residence and place of recrea ...

and the

Royal Palace of Madrid The Royal Palace of Madrid ( es, Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies. The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the ...

. Sometime after 1818 the painting was moved to the Prado.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martyrdom Of Saint Philip Paintings by Jusepe de Ribera Paintings about death Torture in art 1639 paintings