Religion
Related: About this forumJusepe de Ribera's Catholic Perversity
An exhibition of drawings by the Counter-Reformation artist showcases his terrific bent towards horror.
Jusepe de Ribera, Apollo and Marsyas (1637), oil on canvas, Naples, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Quintavalle (all images courtesy the Meadows Museum unless otherwise noted)
Rob Colvin
4 hours ago
Pastor Thomas Müntzer (14881525)
Curator Hyatt Mayor (19011980)
DALLAS In the 1630s drawing Acrobats on a Loose Wire, a frolicsome piece by Jusepe de Ribera (15911652), four performers freestyle on a loose tightrope. On the left, a figure latched on by his legs is holding a second man dangling from a looped rope. Ribera transposed these two men into another drawing from the same time, Group of Figures with a hanged Man being taken down from a Tree. Here, the pendulous performer becomes an executed man holding a crucifix while being lowered to the earth. The loop is now a noose, the man a martyr. In the second drawing, two other men climb on the tree for no apparent reason, despite the danger. To the right, men gaze into the distance as a mother clasps her naked baby and gestures to a passerby, who lifts his hat politely. The exchange probably goes something like: Great day, maam. Indeed, but look at that hoopla down yonder. Hes dead. Its a baffling scenario, but an apt representation of Riberas terrific bent towards horror.
Jusepe de Ribera, Acrobats on a Loose Wire (late 1630s), pen and brown ink and brown wash onbeige paper, Museo de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid
Jusepe de Ribera, Group of Figures with a hanged Man being taken down from a Tree (late 1630s), pen and brown ink and brown wash, Museo Civico
A leading Counter-Reformation artist who was born in Spain, Ribera worked his entire career in Italy after Protestantism was squashed there around 1600, when the Baroque period of art began. The artist was a prolific draftsman and printer, which set him apart from his vanguard elder Caravaggio. Between Heaven and Hell: The Drawings of Jusepe de Ribera at the Meadows Museum is the most comprehensive exhibition to date of the Spaniards works on paper, with frequent glimpses into a wonderfully dark imagination. Most of Riberas drawings were not studies for larger paintings, but projects of their own ends. They served as inexpensive works that brought him side income and examples of his skill that he could distribute to those seeking commissions, such as Spanish viceroys who ruled the city where he lived, Naples. His subjects, all of which are represented in this show, vary more than any other artist of his time, ranging from saints, martyrs, gods, and heroes to corporeal punishment, urban and rural scenes, and bizarre fantasies. They always contain figures, mostly men.
https://hyperallergic.com/375905/jusepe-de-riberas-catholic-perversity/