Juan de Valdes Leal

Essay:

Juan de Valdes Leal was a Sevillian painter whose very individual technique and style set him apart from other artists in Andalusia. He was a pupil of Antonio de Castello and was also heavily influenced by his friend Murillo. Valdes Leal was half Portuguese, the son of a goldsmith named Fernando de Nisa, but he took the name of his mother, who was from Andalusia. Details about his life are few but he was certainly regarded as an important figure in Seville. He lived with his wife Isabella Carasquilla, his son Lucas Valdes and his two daughters (who were all painters) in the parish of San Andrés. He was one of the founding members of the drawing academy in Seville and became its head in 1665, having been elected the head of the S.Juan guild in 1660.

Valdés Leal was a prolific painter and most religious institutions in Seville can lay claim to one or more paintings by him. His style developed quickly from the almost crudely painted early paintings to the more mature works that appear between 1654 and 1658. These pictures display a strong and bold use of colour as well as a vivacity and naturalness not seen in his later paintings. Always his primary concern was to achieve maximum dramatic effect and he was never too shy to treat the more gruesome and violent aspects of the Bible or lives of the Saints. Perhaps his finest works are the Allegories painted for the Caridad hospital in Seville. It was after 1672 that his work began to decline, probably due to the stroke he had suffered, and it is likely that his son began to help him at this date. His unique and individual style sets him apart from the main canon of Spanish art of the 17th Century.

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This expressive and powerful treatment of 'Ecce Homo' was painted along with a pendant of 'La Virgen Dolorosa' . The latter, although published by Valdivieso and Kinkead as its whereabouts unknown, has recently resurfaced in a private collection in Madrid. Second versions of both works, although clearly of lesser quality, exist and are listed by Valdivieso and Kinkead as being in the collection of Vicente Tortajada (op. cit., p. 129, nos. 59 and 61, figs. 66 and 67). The deliberately confrontational composition is meant to provoke a great feeling of piety and repentance. Valdés Leal’s feverish technique (so reminiscent of the Venetian masters) only reinforces the mournful sight of Christ at his most humiliating moment. The thick dark red impasto used for the rivulets of blood, which pool in globulous drops remains in remarkable condition – to such an extent that you can feel them if you run your finger softly over the surface.

The last two digits of the date are indistinct, but it seems likely that the painting was executed towards the end of the 1650s, at around the same time as 'The Sacrifice of Isaac' (sold at Sotheby's, London, 9th December 2004, lot 339). Valdivieso dates both paintings to circa 1657-9, soon after the artist's return to Seville from Madrid where he was strongly influenced by the work of Titian, Tintoretto and Rubens. Indeed, the work echoes Titian's famous treatments of the subject, two of which were in the Spanish Royal Collection at the time.

Provenance:

Joaquin Palacios Cardenas, Seville, by 1923;
Guillermo Bernstein, Madrid;
Sala Pares, Barcelona, 1966.

Literature:

J. Gestoso, 'Biografia del pintor sevillano: Juan de Valdes Leal', 1916, p. 195;
G. Kubler and M.S. Soria, 'Art and Architecture in Spain and Portugal and their American Dominions: 1500-1800', Baltimore, 1959, p. 294;
D.T. Kinkead, Valdes Leal, New York, 1978, p. 127, no. 67, fig. 63;
E. Valdivieso, 'Juan de Valdes Leal', Seville, 1988, p. 239, no. 58.

Exhibitions:

J. Gestoso, 'Biografia del pintor sevillano: Juan de Valdes Leal', 1916, p. 195;
G. Kubler and M.S. Soria, 'Art and Architecture in Spain and Portugal and their American Dominions: 1500-1800', Baltimore, 1959, p. 294;
D.T. Kinkead, Valdes Leal, New York, 1978, p. 127, no. 67, fig. 63;
E. Valdivieso, 'Juan de Valdes Leal', Seville, 1988, p. 239, no. 58.