Fc,.

y
~ F~ ,(i,J.'r~
L.J.A~~
Jus ep e De Ri be ra
an alt er na tiv e vi ew of his or1g1ns, 7
ap pr en tic es hi p, an d ea rly wo rk s
Ronald Cohen

un,ve rsiá
Grego rana

517
RIB
10
Fondo
Fag10IO la .S-,o M'IJ'A rtr •
Htl'Ar&O lj

J u se p e D e R ib er a
an al te rn at iv e v1 ew o f his or1g1ns,
ap p re n ti ce sh ip , an d ea rl y w or k s
Ro11.dd Cohe11
Part On e - Hi s Or igi ns
Viñ es in 1923 of a
Sin ce che pub lic ati on by
s per tai nin g to a cer-
n~mber_ of bap tism al rec ord
era ) far nil y, mo st
tat n Ri be ra (no t de Rib
alo gue rs of the thr ee
histor ian s (in du din g rhe cat 2), hav e accepted
ma jar Rib era exh ibi tio ns of 199
Rib era wa s bor n che
tha t che pai nte r Jus epe de
Spa in, in 1591 • Lit-
1
son of a cob ble r in J ári va,
to Lo ren zo Sal aza r's
de if any hee d was pai d ed in 1894,
ear lie r con flic tin g irú orm ari
on pub lish
No te
in Na pol i No bzh ssi ma (Pt
. III, p. 98,
bel ong ed to a nob
wh ich spe cif ied tha t Rib era
sre m.
bur a com mo n
fam ily, wir h ma ny bra nch es
po rary rec ords exist
Th ree im po rta nt con tem
pro ve rha t Jus epe de
ho we ver wh ich see m to
rhe off spr ing of a cob -
Rib era can no t hav e bee n
ely , rhe Va tica n dee d
ble r. Th ese are , respec riv
der of Ch ris t of Po r-
acc ept ing Rib era in the Or
ter 's, Ro_me , o~ 29
tug al, dra wn up ar Sr. Pe
pai ~.t~ r 1s ..des cnb ed
J anu ary 162 6, on wh ich rheatu s 1.e. of nob le
as "de nob ili gen ere pro cre
the Gr an Co rre del la
ori gin " 2; rhe rec ord s of
Na ple s wh ere , on 27
Vic ari a (H igh Co urt ) of
c<?urse of ..3 lef.aJ 1_a~-
J anu ary 164 6 du rin g the ed as . de am_ l ,:
pai nte r wa s des cnb
tio n rhe
s in Re gio Palacio
sua e' ecc ele nti ae com mo ran
idi ng at. t~e _Roydl
("o / excellent fam ily ~nd res l_e o~igrn .3 ' an '
mg a nob sh1p w1th the
Pal ace ") aga in • im ply
. , ¡ · to krn . am ong che Co urt pai nte rs ( and t1ons m hon';>Ur
fm ally , che par nte r s e a1m of Au ch, h1i:1 FFranceh,
nob le de la Riv ier f e fam ily
. a 1ett er r_0 f!! Ri" bera to . .is ren l of the ma rria ge of Kin g Ch
exp res sed
. 1zed orm,
.h L
in
lo1·s • (Rzvzere is a gal • l1c · R
pu 61 1s er ang d som eom m orn ees
of rhe Sp ani sh Rib era , use
). his tor ian Pie rre-
as we ll as in Fra nceche ed t h e par. nte r' s
A cen rur y or so Jarer Fre ne~
d
74) ese r
ib d 1·
Jea n Ma rie tte (16 94- 17 ant e · e ka1m
• as an unw arr . .
sta te me nt to La ng 101s · to ar1stocrat1C m-
. .
ter 1 1 una wa re of
of a soc iall y am bm ou s pam
~e~ e ear ~h (pu bli she d
shi p ◄ - Ma rie tte wa s ho we c resear
che result s of lar er genealogi
r~J, Unlverslla
Geg aia, ,a
5 ,{ 7-
1{ 1 {:_
1o
Fon do
Fag lolo
dell'At-co
wh ich app are ntl y
o~ ly in 1867 and 1874) indicare char rhe
Th ese
d1sproves his assertion.
che Au ch arca we re
tw o de la Riviere families in
eit her of Spanish ori gin , or
allied by marriage
Th ese we re che de
wit h grc at families of Spain.
, wh ich pro duc ed
la Riv ier e family of Languedoc der of St. Joh n
severa! Co mr nan der s of che Or
counrs de la Riviere
of Jer usa lem, and the Vis
wit h one or bor h
of Big orr e • Ir was evi den tly
5
claimed kin shi p.
of rhese families rhar Rib era
in 1724 to Rib era 's
4), Fu rth erm ore, wh en referring
in the Or der of
le app oim me m as a Cavaliere om ino observed
Pal
Ch ris t of Por tug al, An ton io
made because of
rha t chis app oim me nr was
abi lity , rat her rha n
Rib era 's out sta ndi ng artisric
kgr oun d alth oug h as
because of his nob le bac
ongins, Pal om ino
regareis the pai nte r's illustrious
... no cua nto por lo
not ed, there -zws no doubt (" se duda, cua nto
ilustre de su casa, de que non ). Palo min o also
per lo em ine nte de su habilid
ad"
mber of the Valen-
clarified rha t Rib era wa s a me
Ribera family of
cian bra nch of rhe illu stri ous sta nri ate s the
sub
Mu rci a 6 • Th is sta tem ent
atio n and sho ws that che pai nte r
pre ceding inf orm
ma ny com pet ent
wa s dee me d no ble by
aut hor itie s fro m 1626 - 189
4.
1 acc ord noble sta tus to
Pal om ino did not ligh tly
he wro te, and th':'re
che pai nte rs abo ut wh om
he exagge rated wn h
is no reason to ass um e tha t
respon sib le posicion
Rib era .Pa lom ino occ upi ed a
w~ in~eed charg-
ora
ed wit h the design of che dec es I1. of Spa1!1)-
e arl
risk ed ~ffendm_g r_he m-
He is unl ike ly to hav e
pub licl y ass1gnmg to
fluential Rib era family by 7
the ir family che offspring of
a hum ble cob ble r -
tion to the Pope for
Rib era 's Jan uar y 1626 Applica
che ~su ltan t Order
Ap poi ntm ent in tJ_,e Order, and
of wh1ch do~ um ents
of Ap poi ntm en: 1tself (b<;>th
and are unl ike ly to
are in che Vat1can archives
 -
446 have been seen by Palomin o) confirm che decails ple of che appoincm enc of h
of Palomi~ o•s asse_rtion. In che former che painccr 'Cavalie re di brevctto ' · ¡ n cha c case ª u"_lbly-b
K1 Ph ºI•
orn
•
req~escs h_1s appomt ment on grounds of artistic IV ~ f Spam, the secular head of the ng t ip
Santiago , whose anxiety for his f S)rder of
merJt, wh1ls~ ~he latter docume nt (alrcady refer-
?e
red to~ e~plic1tl y voluntce rs his noble origins ª·
P~lom~n o s ~eferenc e to che circums tances of
appointe d a Cavaliere is weU record:d ume to
cd to approa~h c_he Pope, on behalf
qucz, and await h1s letter of auch · .
:f ~bJ!g-
elas-
Riberas appou~t ment _as a Cavalier e are then fully . · h · onzatton befo
c~rrobo rated m Vac1can docume nts, and con- ap~ointm g t e pa1nter to che Order 1◄ re
srnute another importa nt impedim ent to che ac- le 1s clear chercfor e, especiall y .... h
.. t e atJcan v· .

ceptancc of Ribera's cobbler parentag e as facc. w h ere t I1e P ope was readily acCCSSIº61e, t h at lt .
wou Id h ave
• been unnecess
I ary lor th h
e aut ont1es. .
In ad~icion to Palomin o's informa cion Paolo de to. s_tate mcorrec t y thac Ribera was of noble
Matte1s and Bernard o De Dominic i have stated . • Rome was after
ongm. . ali a ma,·or p o¡·mea . .1 an d
re l1g1ous . centre and 1t would have be po1m . 1ess
that Ri_bera was ~he son of a Spanish officer who, h . en
accordm g to the1r collectiv e informa tion, served to pu_bl IS a 1te to ~ave Ribera appointed a
at che castles of Lecce, Gallipol i, and at che Cavalter e, when so s1~ple an alternativc pro•
Cas!ello Nuovo in Naples, at che last of which ce?ur~ had been establ1sh ed precise/y far cases o/
he 1s repo~ed to ha:ve occupied che importa nt
thl.S kznd.
The question therefor e now arises of whether
post ?f AdJu~~ t, w1th superior powers ("con
magg1or e proV1s1 one") 9 • The full significa nce of Chenaul t (and che many authorities who followed
her lead) ~ere not in fact mistaken to prefer
this _informa tion h:15 not perhaps been fully ap-
the suggest1 on that Ribera's father was a cob-
prec1ate d for, durmg che sixteent h and seven-
bler (advance d by Viñes in 1923, afrer the
teenth cencurie s, the majority of high ranking
discover y in Játiva of che baptismal records of
officers in che Spanish forces were drawn from
che similarly , but not identical ly-named, 'Joan
che aristocr acy, and would scarcely have
Josep' Ribera) to che iníormat ion concained on
counten anced acceptin g orders from a com- che official Vatican documen t and elsewhere
moner 10 • describi ng Ribera as 'of noble lineage' •
15

De Matteis was among che most distingu ished
pupils of Luca Giordan o, who scudied for many
years under Ribera. Given his involvem ent with
so intimare an associate of Ribera, his informa -
tion merits serious attentio n . Similarl y De
Domini ci notes chat much of his own informa -
cion about Ribera carne from a one-tim e col-
laborato r of Giordan o, Maestro Luca Vecchio ,
and his informa tion should likewise not be casual-
ly dismisse d 11 •
Yet another impedim ent to che acceptan ce of
Ribera's humble origins is che regulatio n of che
Papal Order of Christ of Portuga l which
stipulate d unless the Pope personaüy authoriz ed
otherwise chat Cacholic s only o/ noble descent
12
should be admitted to che Order • In his History
o/ the Orders of Chivalry of 1692 Bernard o Giusci-
niani explains chat che Pope occasion ally_ made
exceptio ns to chis rule (which also applied to
many other Cacholic Orders of Chivalry ) when,
as in che case of Caravag gio and Velásqu ez, an
applican t possesse d excepcio nal talent:
Giustini am furcher explame d rhat applican ts un-
qualified by birth having once ob~ined suck an
authori-zation o/ the Pope were descnbe d cech_rucal-
ly as 'Cavalie ri di 'brevett o' i.e. licensed ~ru~hts,
from che 'brevett o' or 'letter' (of authonz anon)
from che Pope u.
The appoint ment of Velásqu ez as a Knight of
che Order of Santiago in 1658 is a cypical exam-
Ribera's actual place and date of birth was total-
1y ignored by his early non- Neapolit an
biograph ers who included Mancini (c. 1618-21),
Scannell i (1657), Bellori (1672), Scaramuccia (1674)
and Baldinuc ci (1681) 16, ali of whom lived at
a distance from Naples (where Ribera spent most
of his life) and would have had limited access
to original sources. . .
The first historian s to broach th1S subiecr were
chree distingu ished Neapolic ans Cario Celano
(1692), Paolo de Matteis (c. 1700), and Bernar~o
De Dominic i (1742), ali of whom ~greed (in
marked contrast to che evidence relaunt to the
'Joan Josep' Ribera, the cobbler's son, o~n lI1
Jáciva, Spain), that the p~inter Jusepe de Ríh~eha
was born in che prov1nce of Lecce '9: ic, ,
chrough ouc and long-fol lowing the Pª1¡11e~ s
lifetime, belonged to che kingd?m of ~ap es,:"
a part of Italy then under Spanish dom! ~~
that Rí h date
De Dominic i noted, furcherm orc, 591
born in 1593 (as opposed ~o \ • td)e This
recorded on che Jácivan bapmma recor .en ....-v
.b • uatercent .... ,
would of course m ak e R t era s 9I n che Naples,
rd
cwo years Jacer than reco ed 0 f 1992 There
Madrid and New York catalogu e¡.1 6 . ~ph~
is no doubt chat che chree Neapc fn
h ora~detalso
tir
¡0 for·
on
were indepen dent of e~ch o c e~,
mation differs vastly 111 quantit y,
18
m atters of d etail -
 ty for the b ¡· f h born in _Rome i~ 1587, of a Spanish fath never
er, and 447
The .b • ibili lies arguabl e 1e. h tA at
pr.ime b respons
in Italy . It has
Ri era was ,orn in Spa. in . · ' Y Wlt n- assed h,s first th1r teen year s
· p j
ton_lO a omi no :who , in 1:is biog raph y publish-
ion through
6 een argue1, on grounds of birth, that
d, and
Olivares
Ribera's
ed in 1~22-4, ar_nved at th1s conclus was an Ital1an and not a Spa niar
raphers,
tation of in- status, according to his Neapolitan biog
wh~t ?1 1ght be iudged a i:nisinterpre
scnp t1on sb maded by. Ribera on his wor k s. would appear to havc becn simi lar.
) .
¡. a1omino et_raye h1s reasoning with the follow- cr's likcly
Once ~alomino's, Mariettc's, and May place
cnsh ip and birth
ing explanat 10n: confus1on of Ribcra' s citiz
ws that De Dom inici
has been acccpted it follo may
emy which Nea poli tan biog raph ers
Ribera w~ a ~ember of the Roman Acad by him and thc two carlier
they stipu lated that
a pictu re ect whe n
lzkc Jns o_ng111 1s demonstrated on h~vc becn corr
er than
representmg SL Matl,cw thc Evan gelis t whic h I have Ribera was born in Spanish Italy rath
sirnu lated piece of paper in Spain itself.
seen, which is signed on a od when
Jusepe de R,bem español, de la ciud ad de Xáti va reino On the other hand, during the peri
argu mem enjo yed, as
de ValenciJ , Acadernico Rom ano. Año de 1630 . And Palomino's and Mariette's
statu s of cano n, with a
on the print of Bacchus, an etch ing by hirn, there it did, practically the possi-
Rjbe ra, and in the best
1s th1s s1gnature on a stone Joseph. a
Ribera Hisp. common name like re
befo
Valent. Setabens. F Partenope. an. 1628
. - 'Partenope' ble faith, it remained only a matter of time ly-
his fresh
means in Naples and 'Setabensis' native
o/ Játiva 19• searches through the archives of
the bap-
deduced birthplace of Játiva revealed son of
Juse pe &be ra
r pan of tismal record of another
One may perhaps complete che latte Alchough
ng rhat "Hisp. Simon (who happened to be a cobbler).
Palomino's explanation by nori e from a simi lar and it ought
the king dom of no evidence, asid
VaJem." means "Spanish from perhaps to be stressed not even identical son
name,
VaJencia ". has ever definicively connected chis cobb ler's
promoted
Palomino's argument was accepced and with the painter, this record was pub
lished by
hist oria ns incl udin g Pierre
by many subsequent Viñes in 1923, and the claim put forw ard cbac
ust May er (192 3). Bot h these
Mariette and Aug it related to the pain ter.
ilar nature
latter published inscriptions of a sim lt is nonetheless surprising, with so ficate as
many peo-
which they too put forw ard as pro of of che l certi
an arride ple having accepted this baptisma
painter's Spanish birth • Mayer, in cioned
20

paim er was pro- genuine, that no one appears to have ques

of 1942, added however that the why its con tent s so utte rly con trad icted
bably of noble stock •
21 .
r info rma tion rega rdin g &be ra's
ove rloo ked or 1g- Palomino's othe n
What ali three historians have show
place and noble origin, confirmed as it has been
nored however is that a person '.5 birth to be by serious Roman and Nea
poli tan sour ces.
rent . Ribe ra'.s birt h to a Mat teis, worked
nationality may be dijfe Palo min o after ali, like Paol o de
ed from )~u va, ~nd was Gio rdan o and therefore,
Spa~ish o~ficer who hail an_ ter- with Rfüera's pupil Luca
statJoned m Lecc e (one of Spa m s Itali rpre catio ns may legi timately
p~1 ?ter while his Latín ime facc
rhe raph ical
ritories) would not have precluded be queried, his state men ts of biog
If as a cmz~n
from being and desc ribin ~ him se_ should hardly be lightly dismissed . ect che
he_d1d
of Játiva, in Valencia, Spa!n,¡rec1sely m1~0.
as It is appropriate therefore to now subj
by Palo . The first very
on the insc ript ion s cite Játivan deeds to closer scrutiny
belo_ngmg dy) is thac
SETABENSIS in fact means "of, or curious observation (alluded to alrea
in reco r-
be read to 1mply the crucial baptismal reco rd is scar tling
to Játiva" and can as easily the cob-
e spec ific "native two fore nam es for
" citizen of Játi va" as the m?r ding not one but
instead of
of Játi va" noted by Palomino. ples of chis m-
. . bler's son. These are "Joan Josep"
ch single
There are man y historic al exam
was merely "Josep" (or "Jusepe"), by whi
. g •m an ear1·1er pen·od, Sc · Paul.' who rted name the painter is describe d on over a bun-
eiudm · M' d 1s repo 22
born in' Tarsus ' in Asia mor· , han . d RO man dred published documems - een the
by man y sources to have m ente ~ut th e
h In addition che missing 'de' betw
on al/ docu mems
citizenship from his fach er. Also , thro ugh forenames and the surname,
le~• s [an: ily, seems
firsr half of this century , Belgians bEorn . ihn c e relating to the Játivan cobb gh
·m Algen·a, and . ng. 1isI men • to have rung no war ning bells (mil icau ve thou
Congo Frenchmen f h world similar Y m- be of a .º º,ble , back grou nd)
. ' . chis prefix may often
born m man y part s o t e har?ly
í fat rs. G and despite the fact tha~ .this de was
herited the nationality of thel 15 1al documents relatmg
e st p~ra e R.tP'!1" ever omitted on other off1c
Finally and perhaps che clos . f ·1 2J
de Guzmán Counr-DukeN' of O!1~ares, hl era s to che pajncer or h1s ami y .
·1·1 5 M1rustcr' w o was
comemporary and P h1 P
H8 H;l\'Íng 1demificJ thcsc two discrepancies the
principal argumcnt which remains in favour of
the Játi v.rn baptismal records is thJt they provc
the cobbler's son, likc the painter himsclf, to
havc possessed a father n.uned Simone, anJ t wo
brothcrs named. rcspectivcl y, Juan and
Geronimo. (Although Mayer spccified Ribera's
father's full name to havc been Antonio Simonc
de Ribera thc second namc of the p.1intcr's fathcr
and itanianised vcrsions oí tlw namc oí his sibl-
ings are confirmed on dccds in Roml' .ind
Naplcs) H_
At a time however when womcn regularly bore
upwards oí eight children, it can hardly have
been a gre.H statistical rarity, within thc same
dccade and in two separate cities under Span ish
rule, to find a father named Simone ,vitl1 three
sons bearing such well-loved n:11nes as Juan,
Jusepc, and Geronimo.
lt can therefore now be plausibly argued that
we are confromed here with a classic case of
mistaken identit)' and the Játivan deeds in fact
refer to a quite different Qoan) Jusepe Ribera,
from a humble family, and totally unrelated, so
far as can be ascertained, in :1ny direct way to
Jusepe de Ribera, the famous painter.
At this stage one final misleading documem
should be mentioned. Found only in 1953 by
the genealogist Salazar y Castro in the Biblioteca
de la Real Historia, Madrid, chis is a handwrit-
ten genealogy with a preamble which states that
it was supplied by the paimer to the lnquisitor
General in 1638. It is primed below:
Preamble:
Jusepe de Rivera, insigne pintor llamado en Italia el
españoleto, fué natural de Játiva, y en el año 1638
envió al Inquisidor general esta genealogía Juan
Bautista Maní, vecino de Játiva, Notario del Secreto
del Santo Oficio.
padre Simón Ribera, upatero natural de Ruzafa, cer-
ca de Valencia. Abuelos paternos, N. Ribera, natural
de Ruufa, y Juana Navarro, natural de Teruel. -
Madre Margarita Ana Selleres, natural de Játiva.
Abuelos maternos, Bartolomé Selleres, zapatero,
natural de Barcelona, y Agustina Brú, natural de
Játiva n_
That this information cannot possibly apply to
the painter is patently clear for it states that his
mother was anorher cobbler's daughter Margarita
Ana Selleres. As Margarita Selleres was the cob-
bler Ribera's third wife, and married him only
in 1607 (see note 24), one would (for the con-
tents of the document to be authentic) have to
accept that Ribera was either born after 1607,
or that he was illegitimate. As he had already
painted the mastcrly St. Martm dividmR /ns cluak
in P_ arma by 1611 [ 1, 2] thc former case is im-
poss1blc, and not onc of thc sources cven remotc-
ly hints at thc latter.
As the paintcr had by .then also bcen a Knight
of thc Order of C~nst of Portugal sincc 29
J.muary 1626, to wh1ch Ordcr the Vatican itsclf
haJ admittcd him without problcm (and with
clcar acceptance of his noble lincagc) the con-
tention that so much humblcr a genealogy could
have becn supplied by the painter for the Spanish
lnquisition, twclve ycars later on, in 1638, scems
ridiculous.
More recem suggestions moreover that he might
have furnished such an ancestry in order to be
admitted in the Orders cither of Calatrava or
Santiago must likcwise be excluded, for a pedigree
cmbracing a cobbler father and maternal grand-
fat her would have been far too humblc to sub-
mit, even for initial consideration, for entry to
Orders as illustrious as these 26 •
Doubts have already been cast upon rhe veraci-
t)' of this document and a possible explanation,
if it is indeed genuine, may be that it was sup-
plied to the lnquisitor General, for sorne
unspecificd reason, by the now-famous cobbler's
son of similar name. lt has after ali been com-
monly accepted sincc 1923 that the painter and
the cobbler's son were one and the same per-
son, and an official statemem by the latter would,
since that time, have been accepted as having
been made by the painter. lt is suggested then,
either that the deed is an outright fake, or that
it may be the result of a confusion of this kind,
either by che person who gave it to Sa)az:ir Y
17
Castro, or by Sal azar y Castro ~im_selt •
lt is now suggested then that wh1!e 1t ,may be
in order to query the truth of Riberas noble
origins specified, respectively, on the Van~an _deed
of 1626, by the Gran Corte de 1~ V1cana oí
1646, and the painter's personal cl~1m to noble
kinship, (notwithstandin g that the f1rst rwo stem
from the highest clerical and legal sour~es, and the
last from the painter himsel/¡; and 1ndeed tht
subsequent correctness of corroborauve
statements of his biographers to which referencd
has been made to dismiss them ali out of han
surely requires ~ore salid evidence than that prd
duced by Viñes in 1923 (sorne rwo hundred ~-nh
sevemy odd years after the pa!n_ter's ?eath), ~• d~f
is namely one baptismal cert1f1cate 1ssued ,n
111
ferent names, in a di/Jerent province and co ~~~
and indeed in a dilferent year to those provi e
by the early independent biographers.
. · cern·
.
It 1s proposed then so far as Ribera 1s con
ed, that the expre;sion 'de nobili gener pro;
creatus' on thc Vatican deed should no onge 1
 ap- 44 9
19 Ir was no rm al for an
re do cu me ma ry formu
la, Vice ro y of Naples • d Ch en au lt,
be dismi ssed as a me al sponsors an
at face value as me an ing plicant to have influenti s let ter of ap -
but s~ould be ~ccep ted ing Ribera'
y so) that the pa im er wa
s in her arr ide reproduc in the Or de r
(and indeed delrberatel acceptance
plicarion and deed of ssa do r to Ro me
'of no ble sto ck '. ily in 1626, no ted that the
Amba
An ns o/ the Ribera fam mly Viceroy of Naples
Th e pr im ary Coat o/ en gra vin g in rhat year (an d su bs eq ue
e
has been rep rodu ced
(3], and also an om on e ass umes th
Fernando Af án de Ri be ra fro m 16 29-3 I) to wh ando Afán de Ribera ,
of the Coat o/ An ns o/ nfa (1614-33) (4]. This historian s refer, was Fe
rn
y Enn'quez, ma rqu ess o/ Ta Am bassador to rhe Holy
oduced ac leasc in pa
n Du ke of Alcala. As s
wa s pr dor-Extraordinary, as wa
Jarrer en gra vin g
18 See (or perhaps Ambassa Afán de Ribera could
by Ribera himsel f • mo re probably che cas
e)
en inv olv ed in chis process Jo_
well have be wcver, if
th Th is ine vitab ly raises che question ho
te r jusepe de Ri ber a wt Fernando Afán
Connections o/ the r: in the p.u nte r was no ta kinsman of ,
Ribera /a mi/y calá, of wh y che duke
persons of the no b e de Ribera, Duke of Al y, the Du ke of Alba ,
sor as vicero
do cu me ma ry so ur ces is chere or his predeces tio n to the 'noble origin' of the
Apart che n from n- raised no objec cu -
nce to su pp or t the co cified on che Vatican do
any circumstan t ial evide carne fro m a no bl e painter explicitly spe t a Sp an ish gra nd ec
ce nt io n ch at Ri be ra me nt. It see ms un lik ely tha er-
red ov en a claim to me mb
to rs might be co nside would have allowed so
ba ckg ro und? Several fac ap- vc been
is, for ins tan ce , the ious bera family to ha
Ri
not the leasc of which Co urt -Pa int er in Naples, ship of che illustr wa y sp ur ious.
poim ment of Ribe ra as 6-1 620 pu t for wa rd, had ic been in any ns of nobili-
als, during th e pr oo f of severa] generat.io applicants
161
in pr eference to his riv was mar- (Witnessed
ke of Os un a, wh o be provided by
viceroyalcy of che Du era . ty had in ali cases to
uez de Rib noble.) Ji
ried to Catal ina Enriq on ed that Ribera was claiming to be embcred in addicion th:u ic was
s have rep ld be rem
Sevl'ral historian sc It sh ou seventee nth century
in the Or de r of C hri on practice during rhe
appo inted a Ca va lzc-re the co mm
th e good offices of
of Po rtu ga l thr ou gh

~·~~-
( _. ~\
- ' ~ \

• ,!; m,'! ' I

I
iie (~~ -
~, ing .fic:r J loi l
! !).;,1111 M.1 r1111 d1.id11
11ng by RoO<"rJ.
1¡1, b1J d ruk A cop )
ul J l,,,1 p.11 n-

I \.Ji nt .lf.1 r11n d1 t'ld111g lm d o.1/.:, f ngr

f'J1n11ng by R1!x-ra .
450 far an important family to arrange far a male
member (not in line to inherit a title) to be ap-
pointed a Cavaliere, which was an ennoblement
in its own right 32 • This could perhaps have been
the painter's situation.
Four years later Prince Don Luis Moneado, the
son-in-law of Afán de Ribera, acted as godfather
at the baptism on 22 April 1630 of Ribera's
daughter Margarita. Prince Moneado was three
times grandee of Spain and became successively
Viceroy of Sicily, Sardinia, and Valencia 33 •
Yet another event of note is the presence of Don
Cristobal de Ribera and his son Don Parafán
de Ribera, relatives of che farrner Viceroy,
together with the painter and his son Antonio
in 1646, as witnesses at the wedding of Ribera's
brother-in-law Gabriele Azzolino H_
De Dominici's additional statement that Ribera's
brother took a letter of recommendation to the
Count of Olivares may perhaps be viewed dif-
ferently, far the mother of Enrique de Guzmán,
2nd Count of Olivares {Ambassador to Rome
1582-91, and Viceroy of Naples 1595-99) was
Francisca de Ribera Niño, of the same family 35•
Aside from answering che ali too rarely posed
508 flib~ra.
J. The Cnat of A m1.1 of Ú1e Ribera /ami/y.
question of how a cobbler's son obtained the
funds far his apprenticeship and extensive travels
membership of so illustrious a family could ex'.
plain how, in the first instance, the paincer ob-
tained introductions to Spanish allies such as che
Farnese family by 1611, the Doria family by
c. 1616, the Viceroy of Naples by c. 1616, and
to Prince Philiberto of Savoy, grandson of Philip
11 of Spain, by 1624 36 •
It is also easier to understand the revelations of
contcmporary Italian and Spanish sources, con-
firmcd by De Matteis and De Dominici in che
eighteenth century, of how {on his appoincment
as Viceroy and arrival in Naples in 1648) Don
Juan of Austria, Philip IV's nineteen-year-old
legitimized son [5] became a regular visitar to
Ribera's home, and on such close terms wich
thc family that he succeeded in seducing and
fathering a child, the Excelentísima Doña
Margarita of Austria, by Ribera's youngest
daughter, Maria Francesca de Ribera. Ribera's
grand-daughter was raised and passed most of
her life in the Convento de las Descalzas Real
in Madrid, where her room and portraits of her
[6, 7] remain to this day 37 •
, ,.. y [111 1
4. The Coat of Anns of Fernando Af,111 d;, R1Vt'•1
qucz, 111arq11ess of Ta nfi1 (1 614-33).
 In 1651 Ribera petitioned Philip IV on behalf
of his recently widowed eldest daughter
Margarita. The king, who by then shared a
grandchild with the painter, accorded Margarita
a 'Real Privilegio' entitling her eventual new hus-
band to be awarded an important government
post as soon as one became available 18 • Such
direct and fruitful communication with the
monarch also indicares Ribera to have been, in
che royal view, of special regard.
In summary, it is unlikely in seventeenth cen-
tury Spanish circles that the son of a Spanish
cobbler would readily have been afforded
distinguished social opportunities, yet Ribera
moved in illustrious circles from a very youthful
age.
The documentary evidence attesting to his no-
ble lineage should therefore be considered serious-
ly and, if the reasoning outlined here is judged
correct, the Játivan baptismal record should
henceforth, like Piltdown man before it, be
regarded merely as an amusing diversion, and
cast finally and forever into the genealogical
dustbin.
is evident that Giordano could have relayed to 451
De Matteis, more accurately probably than
anyone else, the Spaniard's artistic trainin~ 41 •
De Dominici repeated that "Ribera travelled from
Puglia to Naples, and thence to Rome where he
learnt much at the Farnese Gallery". De
Dominici also precised "He then went on to Par-
ma and Modena be/ore returning eventual/;: to
Naples 42 • Ribera would of course have admired
the works of the Carracci at che Farnese Gallery.
Lanzi (1795) further confirmed " .. after
Naples ..Ribera went to Rome where he studied
Raphael and Annibale; and Correggio in Modena
and Parma.. These studies helped him to invent
and draw better than Caravaggio" 41 •
From these reports it seems the painter travell-
ed by a logical route from Puglia to Naples, and
thence on to Rome, Parma, Modena, and perhaps
elsewhere in Lombardy, before returning to
Naples (presumably via Rome, where he was
recorded in 1615-16), and taking up the position
of Court Painter to the Viceroy. (Ribera was
back in Naples by July 1616, and was married
there on 10 November of that same year).
The small signed copper painting of Hecate [8]

Part two. His travels and apprenticeship. A

reassessment o/ the biographical data

A study of the twentieth century literature on

Jusepe de Ribera indicares that much informa-
:ion from the early sources, relating to his youth
and_ training, has been selectively omitted or
den1ed, and merits reconsideration.
These omissions may be because Ri~era's
biographers, superficially at least, seem occas1onal-
ly to conflict. When studied closely, however,
these sources may in fact be found generally to
complement, rather than contradict each other.
So far as the painter's early travels are co_ncern-
ed Celano noted rhat "Ribera left Pug!ta and
a/ter learning the principies o/ his art in Naples
went on to the Academy in Rome to perfect
th em". This first indication that Ribera studied
~n Naples before Rome is significant 39 •
aolo de Matteis confirmed that Ribera, as a boy,
;enr wirh his father from Pugli.a to Naples, ad-
f ing, where "he became a disciple o/ Caravaggw
.ro_m .whom he learnt his style and the perfect
10)
.. ~tation of simple nature". De Matteis noted
D e then travelled to Rome and Lombardy" 4º· 5. Don /11.m o/ ilmrn.i, tl>i.' leg1111111m ./ ,011 o/ Kmg ['/,,/1p
e Matteis, it should be repeated, was twice che IV of Spam, and /a1her o/ R,/;,..,.,, '¡ grand-d.aughtn-, 1he
Pup¡] oí Luca Giordano who, in his turn, had Serenimma Seriara Sor Ma rgania de la Cmz y Amtna.
\erved .
B. . ª _nine year apprenticeship un er ~
d o :b era.
cann g 1n mind his intimacy with Ribera, it
Eq ucst ri.rn pomaa by Jusepe de Ri bera, c. 1648. CanvJs
319x25 1 m.
 4

-1 ~2 whir h, Kn1rdi11 h 10 ib in~crip1 in n, w.1, r xrcutrd
.1ltl'r ., mis~i ng p.1in1ing by R,iphad, 111.iy b~·. ,in
44
l'X,tmpll' of Ribe rú ~tudie, from R.1ph.1l'l - I h1 ,
pJintinh by Ribl'r,1 r.imc frn m thc Span i,h roy.11
rollcrtion, .rnd w.is given by Fl'rdin.rnd VII of
Sp.iin tn thc b1 Dukl' of Wdling1 011 . Thl' N cc,111•
,,·."IS ~hown .1t 1hc N.nion.1\ Galkry. London, dur·
in?, 1993·4, whik Ap,lcy Homl', thl' a~1whill'
m.rnsinn nf thl' Dukl' of WL'llingtt111, w.1~ lwing
rdu rbi~hcJ .
De Dominici n11tl'd lurtl1L'rnlorl' th.ll , whill' ,till
in Pugli.1, thl· young Riba.1 wa~ .lltr.lL'ted to
JrJwing thrnu¡;h .1 juvcnik ,Kqu.1illl,llll'l''hip with
.1 p.1inter's son who brou¡;h1 with him, to thl'
school which thcy both fürndeJ , thc b.1sir
L'I L·ments oi dr.1itsn1.111shi p. sur h ,1s dr.1winp of
11l) ~ l ·~. mouth~..rnd e., r~ '.
4 .1s~en ion that Ribera stu<lie<l undcr Caravaggio,
B.1\dinurri r.:.:ords Rib.:rJ\ .:.1rl y mJst.:r .,~
GioY,ll1ni Bernardino (whom Milirna has idcn-
t ified .1~ Riber.i's eventu.1\ father-in-law Giovan-
41
ni lkr11.m lino /\ ¡,_;,ql 1no} '. Azzolin0 w,, . _\ n,11
. 1 1
rnt-rely J pa1ntcr ) Ut a"º a notc<l sculptor anu
,ilvcr,mll h, :rnJ had t wo ~<>n'> che ol<lcr of wh 0 1
Cabriclc /\,J.olino w a~ for many ycar., hi\ fath ~1
principal rnllaborator. Pcrhap, it wa, he 0 :h
.ltlcndcd ,chool with Ribera.
Ciov.rnni lkrn.udino J\ zz'.,l_ino JiJ not , a1 Man
( in i 11otcd, CO l11l' fro m S1cil y, but from lrc
f> ¡· ·
provinl'l' ·111 t he u¡.; 1.3 rcg1on of Italy, where
ce
hi, hiogr,1phcr~ nott: Ribera to havi: been born .,
/\1.wlinn W J '> marricJ to thc <laughter of ~
11oble111.1n. He was al,o go<lfathcr to a child of
thc prinrd y Dori a fa mily of Gi:noa, which ¡¡_
lu,tr,lll'\ hi~ own \ocia! ~tanJing. His daughter1
.ilso rn;1Jc di ~tinguishi:J rnarriagcs 41•
b there :rn y corroboration of Paolo de Matteis'
Jnd is he likcly to havc bccn with the great
Lombard painter, aftcr the latter's arrival in
Naples? While this may nevcr be answered to

.
ú
,,. "' tJ. i
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.,
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. .

6. Th<! f'rofcmo11 of St. Ciare. T hc pa1nter has used as his 7. Pon ro1it 0 f L S . di' l,1 CmI ,
model for 1he saint la St>re111m m_a Sor Margama de la Cruz " crcmsstnld Sor Marg,mt,l · ¡nJ
A 11str"'. · G rand·d,1ug hler of King Ph1hp. IV Of Spl'º / · Tof1''
y AIIStna, produc1 of 1he 1ll1rn unio n of Don Jua 0 ¡
t he pain1cr Jusept· de R1 ·bera A sn-1ÍX'd ca: 1\ •fª11.ú ' 1 º'"
Austria w1th Ribera's daugh1cr, Maria Franccsca de R-1~ · · h1 pªtriº'º
(b. 1636). Ascribcd to Claudia Cocllo (1642-1 693). p 0 -~~a N _ve,n¡ 0 f t he Dcscaked, Madrid.
Con (Copyng
pai med in 1666 when 1his grand-daugh1cr of ihe pssi y ac1onal . Madric.l).
. a1n1er
Jusepe de Ri bera, a1 1he age of six1een madc he·r own
• •
1

profession ol lanh , and cntered the O rder of ih~ • Desca1c-

cd. Conve,,c of the Descalced, M,ulr1d (copyright Patrimonio
Nmonal - Madrid).
universal satisfa<?ion it_ i? signif\c~nt that firms that Caravaggio, like other seventeenth _cen- 4
Ludovico Carracc1 and Gmho Mancm1, respec- tury masters, had his own pupils alt~o.ugh, ~1ven
tively in 1618 and 1618-21, clearly designated his peripatetic and erra tic lifestyle, 1t 1s unlikel y
Ribera as among the most able of Caravaggio's that he could have retained any for long.
followers 49 • Later in the rúneteenth century Descamps (1843)
Assuming furthermore that Ribera's travels wrot;: "at the school of Caravaggio he (Ribera)
followed the routes outlined above it must be became very able in a short time, but the death
assumed that the artistically well-connecte d Car- o/ his master determined him to leave _Nap~es" _56•
racci and Mancini would have known that the If Palomino's account of Jusepe de Riberas krn-
Spaniard had been in Naples at the same time ship with the noble Ribera family is true (a state-
as Caravaggio. ment supported by documents at the Vatican,
Several prominent biographers since De Matteis and in Naples) his family wo~ld have held ~o_n~
(c.1700) may be seen to have concurred with siderable sway in Naples. And 1f, as De Dom1mc1
De Matteis on this point. These include, in date has suggested, Ribera's father was the Adjutant
order, the Frenchman De Piles who, in his at Naples castle at the time, his powerful in-
Abregé de la Vie des Peintres (1715), noted "Ribera fluence could surely have ensured that his son
was... the pupil of Caravaggio. He painted in a was taught by the finest master then painting
strong, naturalistic manner like his master .. but in the city.
his works were not as mellow" 50. Caravaggio was in Naples from at least October
The Spaniard, Palomino, (1724) described Ribera of 1606 until mid- summer of 1607, and receiv-
as being a disciple of Ribalta in Spain befare ed important commissions from the Count of
studying at the Academy in Rome. Palomino Benavende (Viceroy of Naples from 1603-10), the
also stated "He then went to Italy where... con- De Francis family, the Pio Monte della Misericor-
tinuing his studies and applying himself at the dia, Nicoló Radolovitch and others. He aJso
school of Caravaggio he advanced to supreme returned to Naples in late 1609 and stayed untiJ
eminence in his art" 51 • July 1610 57 •
The words "at the school of Caravaggio" are Having then to execute so many commissions
ambiguous, and should probably not be inter- during so short a period, Caravaggio would have
p~eted too literally. Nonetheless, given that needed a studio and probably sorne assistants.
R1bera's youth overlapped Caravaggio's later Given such circumstances it is quite possible that
years (and considering also De Matteis's the various biographers were recording a signifi-
bac~ground, and confirmatory evidence), the ac- cant moment in Ribera's training.
q~a1ntanceship of the two painters during Throughout the twentieth cemury it has been
R1bera's formative years seems likely. fashionable to believe that Caravaggio was a lone
S? f~r as Ribera's apprenticeship with Caravag- agent, without any personal school as such but
gio 1s concerned the sources already cited are in consideration of the biographicaJ data outlin~
~y no means alone, for De Dominici (1742) con- ed above, this matter should now perhaps be
fd~ed De Matteis's and De Piles's assertions, seriously reconsidered.
ª tng "Ri~era went to Naples where he was It has afte~ ali been shown that in Naples and
ta en by h1s /ather to Caravaggio who was at elsewh~re m Europe, t~roughout the eighteenth
th at time
· active and famous there, and where and nme_teenth centunes, the suggestion that
under the direction of Caravaggio he advanced Caravagg10 should have had pupils was perfect-
;nd perfected his drawing and thus laid the basis lr acceptabl~, and the ~ystique which surrounds
or !mprovement of his painting 52 " . h1m has bu1lt up pamcularly during the twen-
J< Richard (1781) also wrote "He (Ribera} was tieth century.
¡°~ed as a youth at the school of Caravaggio. So far as Palomino's aUusion to Ribera's train-
t .15 Írom this master that Lo Spagnoletto ac- ing under Ribalta is concerned, he also worked
qu1red
Th h.is ·
v1gorous style" s,. with Giordano at the Court o f Spain and thus,
b· e last of Ribera's eighteenth century though rarely accorded much credence today this
i~f~;aph~rs to be cited is L. Lanzi {1795) whose statement should not be ignored. '
Ca mati~>n precised: "Ribera worked under One should perhaps consider whether Palomino
fro:vaRggzo in Naples when this latter was exi/ed confused the Ribera/ Ribalta connection for
Fu h orne around 1606'' s•. Ribal~a's patron,.{not pupil), ~as the noble 'Juan
add derhore, in bis biography of Ribera, Lanzi de Ribera, Patnarch Archb1shop of Valencia
po; t e fo_o t~ote "Caravaggio had another im- whose father was Viceroy at Naples fro ~
whoant pkup1) in Mario Minnitti, fro m Siracuse, 1559-71. On t~e other ha~d one could
as easily
Wor ed under him in Rome" 55 . This con- argue chat thJS proveo R1bera/Ribalta connec-
 454 tion might have encouraged the painter to visit
his kinsman's protégé.
1t is clear, in short, that one cannot totally ex-
elude that, as a boy, perhaps after t he expiry
of one of his officer-father's terms of duty, at
Lecce or Gallipoli, (and prior to the assumption
of his final command in Naples) the young
Ribera travelled with his father to Valencia, and
met Ribalta.
Had the painter made such a boyhood trip to
his ancestral city, (and, far Palomino's accoum
not to conflict with those of Ribera's other
biographers) such a trip must have taken place
prior to Caravaggio's arrival in Naples, i.e. pre
1606.
In 1605 Ribera would have been twelve years
of age (according to De Dominici) or fourteen,
according to the Jativan deeds. Either age would
of course fit well for such a youthful voyage.
Even had he made such a trip, however, an eye
as discerning as Ribera's would immediately have
observed that there was far more to learn from
the masters of che ltalian peninsular (sorne of
whose paintings he could have found in the ar-
chbishop's and other collections in Valencia),
than from any painters active in Spain during
che first decade of the seventeenth century, in-
cluding Ribalta. Such an immediate comparison
would almost certainly have convinced him, if
seriously concerned to improve his art, as no
doubt he was, to return to Italy.
.. ,,
,
R Jusepe de RibcrJ. Hccate. On Copper 33xó3 cm. Aftcr a lost plinting by
d·c· Musi). Apsley House, London. Provcnance: Sp,msh Royal Collectio n.
1
Palomino's information in this regard could then
be correct and, as a fellow Spaniard, it would be
understandable for him to emphasize the Spanish
aspect of Ribera's pre-Caravaggio training, and
for thc Neapolitan biographers, in their turn (and
a~suming they knew of it) to have considered
it irrdevant, and hardly worthy of mention.
So f.1r as Ribera's studying with various mastcrs
is concerned it was not uncommon at that time
for well-connccted and ambitious painters to en-
joy severa! apprenticeships. Luca Giordano, for
instance, studied under Ribera for many years,
and then under Pietro da Cortona. And Paolo
de Matteis studied under Luca Giordano, Giovan-
ni Maria Morandi, and then for a second time
under Luca Giordano 58 •
So far as other influences on Ribera are con-
cerned Baldinucci (1681) noted "When in Rome,
Ribera copied Reni who taught him fresco pain-
ting". Baldinucci added "Because he was such
a fine draftsman he was appointed director of
the Academy severa! times" 59 • Ribera is of course
believed to have produced frescoes in Parma 60 •
lt is impossible at chis stage to verify Ribera's
directorships of the Academy as many relevant
records are missing, particularly for che years
1600-1634. (He would have been at least forty
one years old by 1634). lt nonetheless seems
eminently plausible 6 1•
Sorne recent scholars have stated that Ribera's
brother, Juan de Ribera, was also a painter but
Rlph,1rl. (<iuh1ect engravcd by Agosuno

chis conclusion seems to have been arrived at
through a misinterpretation of the Latín text
which preceded Juan's affidavit of 1622 62 •
Having now clearly established the Caravag-
Par/ 7hree of thzs study entitled: The early carcer of Jusepe de Ribera. The influences of Caravaggio and
Rrni is to be p11blishcd III a forthcoming edztion of Storia dell'Arte.
' The baptismal record of a Joan Jusepe Ribera the son
of a cobbler, on 17 February 1591 , in Játiva, Sparn, was
published by Gonzalo V1ñes 1n La v..--rdadera par/Ida de
ba11tmno del Üpar)oletr1 y otros datos de famdia Archivo
de Anr Valenciano, 9, 1923, pp. 18-24, and once ag;iin
in the 1992 Naple, and MetropoLtan Museum Ribera ex-
hibuion catalogue\ The most sigrnficant records from this
Lmer publicatio n are reprinted in note 2'4 bdow. August
Mayer in h1s Jusepe de Ribera (p- 184) published in Leipsig
1n 1923, expres.sed h1s bel,d that 1he painter was born in
J.ít1v.1, Spam bu1 , 1n h1s final aruclc on Ribera in Hutona
de la Pincura Es¡mlola 1n 1942, no1ed that 1he painter was
probablr of noble ,tock In 1952 and 1970, re~pectively,
Ned Macl aren and Alan Braham ind1cated reservauons as
to whether thr J.í11van bapusmal record appl1ed to thc
pa1mer. N. Macbrrn, Nar,onal Gallery Catalogues. 7he
Spamsh SdJOol, London 1952, p. 55; and A. Braham Spanuh
A111111n~s ,,1 rhe Na11011al Gallery, Londo n 1970, p. 91.
1
}uiep,: de RdJl.'Ta Metropol,un Mu'>t'um of An., New York
1992, p. 240 Th,, L,n.i.logur 1s hence-fo nh rderred tu as.
R1/}('r¡J N Y. 1992
1 V Pa, dli l'mce<,o rra Rtl=a cd un C'onnl/mte, Na.poli
Nobd1ss1ma Vol. XVIJI January-hb ru.iry MCMLXXIX, p
28, Ribera N.Y 1992, p. 1'48.
• P J Mane11r Abt•cedarw (PubJ,_h,..J 185 1-60), Vol.J, p
273 Mmc.-11r had -een I hi, le1te-r from t he pa1nter lO
Lan¡;lu" " m wh 1t h Ri bera requesred that Langloi, sho uld
1,nd ou1 whet hrr 111 th r d1occ.-,e of Au,;ch (,1t) tht?rt' " <"rt'
Pt'<>r l, "h,¡ borc.- 1he n,un,· de la R1v1t'r<"" J\1an, ttt' adde-J
ihc.- np,n,nn dw Lo Sp.ignolt"tl o d1d th1> ",o tha.1 he w uld
3 ' "''-' Jlt 1hr m v. 11h h1, ov.·n famil ) in ordc-r to magrn h·
lh glun" (" Ce mem,>1re a, a.11 pour ob1n de.- \'mlorm<"r
" dan, le d,uú-.e D'Aw.l h (.ic) il m· ><' 1rou, 011 pa.s ~ or,
J._. , pt'rsunnn J e no m J., la R.i, 1rrt'. qué" l'E.spagnolt"I auro11
, nu luu as,ou c.- r :i ,a f.urnll<" pour r-n 111Tr plus d'<"dai ' J
I or 1nlonna111in abou t the publ1,her, 1 rm(OJS and N1u a,
1.i.n!;lc,1, ><r J Bru" n , Ju,ep,- dr R1brr.1, G1.1lu.ior, \ alt"n-
' 1J l'lll~. p 4C Ri berú na.me u .1.5 spth 'J,l.>elo di Ri\,t'ra
,,n an 1m11a.11on to 1ht' Ac.i.dr-m , 1ll 17 O.iobcr 1613 and
G,ul.Cprr R.J\ 1t'ra' o n thc.- Rom .. l ,mu,-e-, oí Apnl 1615
•nd M~nh 16 1b R,bn-.1 N y 1992. p 131 S1mil.u :.pcU
•n~, ,,1 h,, , urn~r ~ so appc.-u on lutr docu mt'ntS
!.a U1 m1} c.- , uc.uo1 .,_u __
¡,'
rL L _
s & B~n . Ltcr1cmn.i1rr ck L. . -
7
"" IM, , \'oJ 17 1872 , pp 133 and H~ l hn iru,,r,.,,
11
"n (dlustr.i.1mg 1h, link, oí the Jr L1 R,um llll' l.n n i
I r J•n« v. 1h 1mporu m ,.1pan1w1 . L lu 111l1nj 1, rr-port~ - ' be
rt,
;n 2
(.-lln l,1 111 J ,. S-irnt AJI¿¡~ ", ob,./J..J rr l 111t,rr,n d,.
pp
~;; : · l'u ,. li7J--4, \/0 l 8, pp 3>8-lb.? 6: \ oJ 11,
• A. m,,n,o Pllo rnmu y \ •r,nto,
17 ,
1-
ll M,oro f'lmm,~ Mad.i.J
< ◄ . PP 110/ 11
gio/Ribera link (through literary sources ac least) 455
the next obvious step muse surely be to study
sorne of Ribera's earlier works and che debt they
owe to Caravaggio.
1 E. BeneZH, Dwwnna,rr des Pc,nrm , Pam 195-1, Vol. 6.
p. 498 .
' Ribera N. Y. 1922, p. 240.
' Paolo de Mattcis's biography of Ribera of nrcJ 1700 wa,
reprinted by Bernardo De Dommi..:i in che volumr men-
tio ned hcreunder (pp. 21/2). BernJrdo De Domm1c1. Vite
de ' Pzuon, Sculton ed Arch1ttr11 N.1poletarJ1, 1741, Vol 111 ,
p. l . According to l\hycr, Ribera\ fathcr "J, n•mcd 1111
romo S1111one de R,hcra. Th1< 11 apparentlr , onh rmcJ hy
De Dom1nic1·, earl1er míormJ!IOn 1ha1 1hr p•m1rr n.m1cJ
his cldest so n JÍter the grandfat her for R1bC'rJ\ fi rn ,nn
was named A111onio S1mone Gwsq,pe de R, huJ (G1oseppc
presumably after thr pam1er h1m<elQ Thc p•1ntcr aho nJ1T1
ed his th1rd son Antoruo (l-rJnu¼:0 Anwnio d1 K1 verJ)
August L. Mayr-r Jusrpt· de R,bn-a "/ o \¡,.,g,10/nu,· 1 e1p\1 t,:,
1923, p. 185: & B De Dom 1nll l, (1/ (l· J 1844) p 1 \'I
R1ber.1 N Y 1992, pp ~-11 4 On K1hr r, , NoH·mh.:r 10,
1616 mama.gr ..:ontrJtt h1, ÍJ1her\ nJ me " ninrr b11r tl}
wmtm ~ "S,monen dr R1bt·ra" l<tllf',.1 "- Y l'l'I~. p 211
As , o Jmle other dcx ume-n1,1t1on r!'ialmK tri 1hc pJ,nl r r\
fathcr ha, yet ,urfaccd archl\ 1>1s , h,,uld l>r r nt nurJg<"d I n
sruc:h for dttJ , rdrrnng bo1h to " Antrinu," and " \ 11nr,nr"
de Ribera "h<"n rr1eJrLh1ng I hr pa1nt rr\ 11 r1mn l1li t
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o n 1h" marna¡.;r ,nntrJd lle mJ \ haH rc-1 ,rnl l,;i,I,. 111
'>parn h, 1h11 dat, , h,,..,evrr, h J \tn 1n¡; .,,Jd,cr wh,,.,.,
pornn¡: ,han¡.;.-d ohm (hr 1, rr-,,,rJe,I 111 h 1vt ...-r~r,1 111
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d1x.um<'nt1 .,¡ 1h1, ,011 , 1hJt h, "' "ul 1 ~..n, b.-rn rf"ltJrdcd
.i,, " rNJ.:nt ,n ) p.lln' A. d .mn 1,, rn J..·r"'· 111 ", Jpln m1ich1
hl\r- lJU\n.l 1nhnrt JO• e .i.rid ,,, ht-r hurrJu,rJll J, ....,h rn
t i ~ ~h 1<"r (l un~ C. ~l11 1 < l rt lnl,n1 ,n" / ,nu \.u rr,
l e.e<' 1/,H) 1Jer 1 1 n a\ l P'" • blr rnJ,J,¡1, f,., k ,hcri \
1,thcr Ar.• on,o R,:....ra ( h,¡1cb n ,,t 1' " ' , Jnd ', 1rnn r
( ommandcr of thc ')pumh ArM, ,n '>1 , •> md 1',filmont
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of )L B.,rúi<,J, -..r.. 1,1 l b..? ◄ J I\ to l''L"•• l'hil,b.-rto 1,I \.. \1,.
thc ~ ,or: .¡ Pt-.1 p IJ ol '>p~'l Tti.- p.v1•cr 1h ,ct,irr,
1 l._e hu , ~gg<"tcd IJltk r. Ar:•oc; , K >vri ,¡.,, r ...kr1 ,
cr •.•c-J .u: ,rpr .n, n • 6'11<"1 ,. "' rh 1t--. . ll "-• 1 ''l..1 .,
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e 1 ~ '> t u« d.. To 1, r 1 (d, P .J..,n ,1 il '\n-•u K ~r ,1.
th. dr~J-ta ól l,.r;_...,,, Rl,,rr.1 . nJ 1, = hn.,J.. J.. l< f' ~ .i
h r~ bttn •"~'"'cJ th¡¡ l\r:-m ., .u 1loic p.i.,nt.cr , , >Jr
l.xcnn.i AuJ n.> 1,,.-d 1!'1 11'- • pu ul-l .nJ, Wtr n 1hc
pur:m w.l h 1 11-m' 1, ilil
h ... ..,_IJ b J\c btc, . n u , ~ , 1,.,whma .l,l,, I•• , ,, (
t,,, rbccng¡ ,mu,a ni,.J.,,. ll0llk'-:cn 1~ 1h.r, .. in., •
., H J..lr 1J,,m,11a.1 1,1 (1 d 1'1'1 p 1-
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