Francisco de Herrera
(1589 - 1654) |
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Portraiture, Secular and Historic Narratives Art Work
| Name: |
Francisco de Herrera |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Seville, Spain |
| Nationality: |
Spanish |
| Birth: |
1589 |
| Death: |
1654 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Portraiture, Secular and Historic Narratives |
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| Style: |
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| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| A significant painter active in Seville during the first half of the seventeenth century, Francisco de Herrera the Elder was less innovative and gifted than Zurbarn, nor did he manifest the consistent fascination with realism that so inspired his exact contemporary Ribera, as well the great VelSzquez. Instead, Herrera the Elder produced a sturdy body of pictures characterized by a distinctive technique: fluid brush marks, perceptively applied impasto, monochromatic palette, and an instinct for sober characterization. At times his work is reminiscent of Bernardo Strozzi* and other northern Italians. Despite his more conservative orientation, Herrera found patronage in Seville and later in Madrid, and his relatively modest oeuvre includes some of the finest surviving examples of Spanish baroque painting, while his technique was important for the development of Bartolome Murillo,* Juan de Valdes Leal, and Francisco de Herrera the Younger. Herrera the Elder is thought to have studied first with his father, a miniaturist, and then obtained further training with Francisco Pacheco (Velazquez's teacher). Older than Velazquez by about nine years, Herrera must have been independent around the time Velazquez was entering the studio (1610). By 1614 Herrera received his first known commission - for twelve scenes from the History of the True Cross, commissioned by the Brotherhood of the True Cross for their chapel in the monastery church of San Francisco, Seville. Few of these pictures survive, though one, the Vision of Constantine (Seville, Hospital de la Caridad), reflects his mannerist training, undoubtedly based on the study of Italian and Netherlandish models. His Pentecost (dated 1617, Toledo, El Greco Museum) has many of the same mannerist qualities. It is evident that Herrera not only gradually changed his style, responding to the new taste for realism, but at the same time gained a new proficiency in his painting, which is evident in the most important commission he ever received: the decoration of the Franciscan College of St. Bonaventure in Seville, which he began in 1626. The Franciscans commissioned six oil paintings after Herrera had completed (in 1628) the fresco decorations of the nave and dome with imaginary portraits of the famous doctors of iheir order. Herrera actually painted four of the six commissioned oils. The best of these is SL Bonaventure Entering the Franciscan Order (Madrid, Prado), which consists of a kind of group portrait of Franciscan friars attending the ceremony by which Bonaventure is welcomed in their midst. Revealing a real skill for individualized portraiture, executed with a painterly verve reminiscent of the baroque Venetians, Herrera arranged his friars in a simple row that, by its diminishing scale, gives a powerful illusion of depth. The picture in which Herrera let mundane reality inject a particularly striking note and its raw power may be one reason that he was relieved of his duties after completing only four scenes. Other pictures in the cycle were The Apparition of St Catherine to the Family of St. Bonaventure (dated 1628, Greenville, S.C., Bob Jones University Collection of Sacred Art), The Young Bonaventure Cured by St. Francis (dated 1628, Paris, Louvre); St. Bonaventure Receiving Communion from the Hand of an Angel (dated 1628, Paris, Louvre). Stopped by the Franciscans after four pictures (the project was continued by Zurbaran), Herrera continued to receive patronage elsewhere. Some of his finest pictures were done between 1636 and 1648. Among his important institutional clients was the College of San Basilio, for which he produced in 1639 the Vision of St. Basil (Seville, Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes) and St. Basil Dictating the Doctrine (Paris, Louvre). The latter must rank among the most beautifully executed images of his entire career. The elderly saint, set against the molten, cherubim-filled sky, has authority as well as character, while the listeners taking his dictation are harmoniously arranged and energetically depicted. Other important works from this period are the Temptation of St. Jerome (dated 1636, Rouen, Mus6e des Beaux-Arts) and St Joseph (Madrid, Museo Lazaro Galdiano). As the works of Murillo and a new sentimentality gained favor in Seville around the mid-1640s, Herrera attempted to accommodate the change in taste with such works as St, Joseph and the Christ Child (dated 1645, Budapest, Szepmiivezeti Muzeum) done for El Monasterio of San Jose. In 1647 he was commissioned to do four pictures for the archbishop of Seville, one of which survives in the Archbishop's Palace, Madrid. His last dated work appeared in 1648. Herrera survived the plague of 1649, but in 1650 he decided that there was little future in remaining in Seville and moved on to Madrid. Early writers remarked on his genre paintings and still lifes, but these are unidentified. Little is known about his activities until his death, although the vigorous, painterly, and altogether earthy realism that had been his trademark was, it would seem, superseded. It remains to be seen how much of an innovator or leader he was in his last years. Some scholars suggest that the Head of a Martyr (signed, Madrid, Prado) is evidence of Herrera's invention of a type later made famous by Valdes LeaL At any rate, his son and pupil, Francisco Herrera the Younger (1622-85), took up the "new" style and gained success with it, becoming master of the royal works for Charles II. Moreover, his technique is considered important to the development of Valdes Leal, Francisco Henera the Younger, and Murillo. Dates for Herrera's death were variously estimated from 1654 to 1658 until recently discovered documents confirmed the day as 29 September 1654. Reportedly possessed of a violent temper that sometimes terrified his students, Herrera became something of a legend for his outbursts. |
Samples of Work
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