The Story
The Holy Family with Saints Anne and Catherine of Alexandria by Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto). Samuel D. Lee Fund, 1934
Created in 1648 during the Baroque period, this work belongs firmly within the religion & mythology tradition. Jusepe de Ribera worked at a moment when the rivalry between Catholic Baroque drama and Protestant restraint reshaped what a painting could mean. Every gesture, fabric, and gleam of light was decoded by contemporary viewers like a private language.
Executed in Oil on canvas, measuring 82 1/2 x 60 3/4 in. (209.6 x 154.3 cm), the surface rewards close looking. Jusepe de Ribera builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward. The brushwork shifts from the precise to the almost dissolved — a hallmark of mature Baroque practice.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
