Juan Sánchez Cotán
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Juan Sánchez Cotán (June 25, 1560 – September 8, 1627) was a Spanish Baroque painter, a pioneer of realism in
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. His
still life A still life (: 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, human-m ...
s and '' bodegones'' were painted in an austere style, especially when compared to similar works in the Netherlands and Italy.


Life

Sánchez Cotán was born in the town of
Orgaz Orgaz is a municipality located in the Toledo (province), province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2012 census, the municipality had a population of 2804 inhabitants, but it has since declined. Burial of the Count of Orgaz ...
, near
Toledo, Spain Toledo ( ; ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, the capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla†...
. He was a friend and perhaps pupil of Blas de Prado, an artist famous for his still lifes whose
mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...
style with touches of realism the disciple developed further. Cotán began by painting
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 and religious works. For approximately twenty years, patronized by the city's aristocracy, he pursued a successful career as an artist in Toledo painting religious scenes, portraits and still lifes. These paintings found a receptive audience among the educated intellectuals of Toledo society. Sánchez Cotán executed his notable still lifes around the beginning of the seventeenth century, before the end of his secular life. On August 10, 1603, Sánchez Cotán, then in his forties, closed up his workshop at Toledo to renounce the world and enter the
Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called th ...
monastery
Santa Maria de El Paular The Monasterio de Santa María de El Paular (Santa María de El Paular Monastery) is a former Carthusian monastery (Spanish ''cartuja'', "charterhouse") located just northwest of Madrid, in the town of Rascafría, located in the Valley of Lozoya ...
. He continued his career painting religious works with singular mysticism. In 1612 he was sent to the Granada Charterhouse; he decided to become a monk, and in the following year he entered the
Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called th ...
monastery at Granada as a lay brother. The reasons for this are not clear, though such action was not unusual then. Cotán was a prolific religious painter whose work, carried out exclusively for his monastery, reached its peak about 1617 in the cycle of eight great narrative paintings that he painted for the cloister of the Granada Monastery. These depict the foundation of the order of St. Bruno, and the prosecution of the monks in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
by the
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
s. Although the painter's religious works have an archaic air, they also reveal a keen interest in the treatment of light and volume, and in some respects are comparable with certain works by the Italian
Luca Cambiaso Luca Cambiaso (also known as Luca Cambiasi and Luca Cangiagio (being ''Cangiaxo'' the surname in Ligurian (Romance language), Ligurian); 18 November 1527 – 6 September 1585) was an Italian Painting, painter and draughtsman and the leading arti ...
, whom Cotán knew at the Escorial. In spite of his retreat from the world, Cotán's influence remained strong. His concern with the relationships among objects and with achieving the illusion of reality through the use of light and shadow was a major influence on the work of later Spanish painters such as
Juan van der Hamen Juan van der Hamen y (Gómez de) León (baptized 8 April 1596 – 28 March 1631) was a Spanish painter, a master of still life paintings, also called bodegón, bodegones. Prolific and versatile, he painted allegories, landscapes, and large-scal ...
, Felipe Ramírez, the brothers
Vincenzo Vincenzo is an Italian male given name, derived from the Latin name Vincentius (the verb ''vincere'' means to win or to conquer). Notable people with the name include: Art * Vincenzo Amato (born 1966), Italian actor and sculptor * Vincenzo Bel ...
and
Bartolomeo Carducci Bartolomeo Carducci (156014 November 1608) was an Italian painter, better known as Carducho, the Spanish corruption of his Italian patronymic. Biography Carducci was born in Florence, where he studied architecture and sculpture under Barto ...
and, notably,
Francisco de Zurbarán Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname "Spanis ...
. Sánchez Cotán ended his days universally loved and regarded as a saint. He died in 1627 in
Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
.


Style

Sánchez Cotán stylistically falls within the school of
El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial, Madrid, El ...
, with Venetian influence, and his works can be placed in the transition from
Mannerism Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...
to
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 ...
. He was an early pioneer of
Tenebrism Tenebrism, from Italian ('dark, gloomy, mysterious'), also occasionally called dramatic illumination, is a style of painting using especially pronounced chiaroscuro, where there are violent contrasts of light and dark, and where darkness become ...
at the beginning of the golden age of Spanish painting. Although his religious paintings have a primitive sensitivity and a peaceful rhythm, Cotán's high stature in art history rests exclusively on his still lifes, of which only a few are extant. Their severe naturalism has little in common with the artistic style then prevalent.


Still lifes

Sánchez Cotán established the prototype of the Spanish still life depicting pantry items, called a ''
bodegón The term ''bodega'' in Spanish language, Spanish can mean "pantry", "tavern", or "wine cellar". In general usage, the derivative term ''bodegón'' is an augmentative that refers to a large ''bodega'', usually in a derogatory fashion. In Spanish ar ...
'', composed mainly of vegetables. Characteristically, he depicts a few simple fruits or vegetables, some of which hang from a fine string at different levels while others sit on a ledge or window. The forms stand out with an almost
geometric Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...
clarity against a dark background. This orchestration of still life in direct sunlight against impenetrable darkness is the hallmark of early Spanish still life painting. Each form is scrutinized with such intensity that the pictures take on a mystical quality, and the reality of things is intensified to a degree that no other seventeenth-century painter would surpass. Norman Bryson describes Sánchez Cotán's spare representations as abstemious images and links his work to his later monastic life.Bryson 2012, p. 66. They are supposed to express a monastic denial of worldly pleasure and richness: "Absent from Cotán's work is any conception of nourishment as involving the conviviality of the meal .... What replaces their interest as sustenance is their interest as mathematical form." His fruits and vegetables are arranged in beautiful
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
like compositions. The Carthusians are
vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
, but many of his works contain game birds. He depicted few artifacts other than the strings from which vegetables and fruits dangle, this being the common means in the seventeenth century of preventing food and vegetables from rotting. Even if the objects are arranged so that they seem close enough to touch, they are nevertheless distanced. For all the realism with which they are depicted, the isolation of each object, heightened further by the black background, lends them a monumental, almost sculptural gravity. Sánchez Cotán is documented to have painted at least nine still life paintings. Seven of them are recognized, of which four are in museums and three in private collections; whereabouts of the other two remain unknown, and it is not known if they have survived. File:Sánchez Cotán (Bodegón con membrillo, repollo, melón y pepino).jpg, '' Still Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber'', , 69 × 84 cm,
San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine art museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. It opened as the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego on February 28, 1926, and changed ...
. File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - Still Life with Game Fowl - 1955.1203 - Art Institute of Chicago.jpg, ''Still Life with Game Fowl'', 1600–03, 68 × 88 cm,
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - Still life with a cardoon and francolin.jpg, ''Still life with Cardoon and Francolin'', , 73 × 62 cm, Piasecka-Johnson Collection,
Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...
. File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - Still Life with Game, Vegetables and Fruit, 1602.jpg, ''Still Life with Game, Vegetables and Fruit'', 1602, 68 × 88 cm,
Prado Museum The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on ...
. File:MBAGR-bodegoncardo.jpg, ''Still Life with Thistle and Carrots'', , 62 × 82 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - Still Life with Fruits and Vegetables, c. 1600 HQ.jpg, ''Still Life with Fruits and Vegetables'', , 69 × 96 cm, Colección de Banco Inversión,
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
. File:Bodegon flores hortalizas cesto cerezas.jpg, ''Still Life with Flowers, Vegetables and a Basket of Cherries'', , 89 × 109 cm, private collection of David David-Weill's family.


Gallery

File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - Immaculate.jpg, '' Immaculate''; after 1603, 145,5 × 104 cm,
private collection A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...
. File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - Anunciación.jpg, ''
Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...
''; 1603–27, 292 × 209 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada. File:Adoración de los pastores, de Juan Sánchez Cotán (Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada).jpg, '' Adoration of the Shepherds''; 1603–05, 157 × 245 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada. File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - Flight into Egypt.jpg, ''
Flight into Egypt The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:13–Matthew 2:23, 23) and in New Testament apocrypha. Soon after the Biblical Magi, visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Saint Joseph, Joseph in a dream telling ...
''; 127 × 107 cm, 1600–27, private collection. File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - Baptism of Christ, 1600–27.jpg, ''
Baptism of Christ The baptism of Jesus, the ritual purification of Jesus with water by John the Baptist, was a major event described in the three synoptic Gospels of the New Testament ( Matthew, Mark and Luke). It is considered to have taken place at Al-Maghta ...
''; 1600–27, Granada Charterhouse. File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - La cena del Señor con los apóstoles.jpg, ''The Lord's
Supper Supper is used commonly as the term for the main evening meal, although its use varies considerably. Supper may be used to describe a snack or light meal in the evening, either after or instead of dinner. Etymology The term is derived from th ...
with the
Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...
''; 1618, 335 × 509 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada. File:Oración en el Huerto, de Juan Sánchez Cotán (Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada).jpg, '' Prayer in the Garden''; 1626–27, 283 × 201 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada. File:Ecce Homo, de Juan Sánchez Cotán (Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada).jpg, ''
Ecce Homo ''Ecce homo'' (, , ; "behold the man") are the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate in the Vulgate translation of the Gospel of John, when he presents a scourged Jesus, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd shortly before his crucif ...
''; 1626–27, 278 × 200 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada. File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - Christ Carrying the Cross.jpg, '' Christ Carrying the Cross''; after 1603, Granada Charterhouse. File:Juan Sánchez Cotán - Crucifixion of Jesus.jpg, ''
Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...
''; after 1603, Granada Charterhouse. File:MBAGR102-piedad.jpg, '' Virgin of Sorrows''; 1626–27, 279 × 199 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada. File:Resurrección del Señor, de Juan Sánchez Cotán (Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada).jpg, '' Resurrection of the Lord''; 1618–27, 253 × 152 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada. File:Asunción, de Juan Sánchez Cotán (Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada).jpg, '' Assumption''; 1603–27, 256 × 183 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada. File:Coronación de la Virgen, de Juan Sánchez Cotán (Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada).jpg, ''
Coronation of the Virgin A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special ...
''; 1603–27, 256 × 198 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada.


Notes


References

* Bendiner, Keneth (2004). ''Food in Painting: From the Renaissance to the Present''. Reaktion Books. * Bryson, Norman (2012). ''Looking at the Overlooked: Four Essays on Still Life Painting''. London: Reaktion Books. * Lacotte, Michel (1991). ''Larousse Dictionary of Painters'', Mallard Press. * Lopez Rey, José Luís (1999). ''Velázquez: Painter of Painters''. Cologne: Taschen. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez Cotan, Juan 1560 births 1627 deaths 16th-century Spanish painters Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish male painters 17th-century Spanish painters Spanish bodegón painters Spanish still life painters Catholic painters