Saint Matthew and Saint John the Evangelist
Ca. 1625.Room 010B
In this painting, two men wearing tunics kneel next to a rocky crag, past which, in the distance, a stormy landscape opens up. The elder of the two men bends over a sheaf of papers on which he writes, using the surface of a rock as a desk. The other man points his right index finger to a page, while his other hand and his feverish gaze are directed heavenward. The younger of the two is the evangelist Saint John, as indicated by his youth, his visionary attitude and the eagle at his side, a bird that, like him, fearlessly stares directly at the sun and which became the saint´s attribute. His companion is the evangelist Saint Matthew, who is frequently accompanied by an angel as his attribute in the iconographic tradition. This painting´s pendant is a work of similar dimensions that portrays the two other evangelists, Mark and Luke (P2965). The horizontal format of the two paintings suggests that they once belonged to the lower portion of an altarpiece, known as the predella, which was a highly suitable place for the representation of the evangelists. The style is characteristic of both Juan Ribalta and his father Francisco Ribalta (1565-1628). Both artists were based in Valencia in the first decades of the seventeenth century and cultivated a naturalistic style in their works. Although scholars were initially inclined to attribute the painting to Francisco, in the last few decades, they have come to unanimously ascribe it to Juan. His authorship is indicated by the very precise technique with which the scene is depicted, as well as its having stylistic elements in common with a painting of Saint John the Evangelist in the Prado (P3044), which is signed by Juan Ribalta. It shares, for example, the summary approach to the folds in the mantle and the carefully and convincingly executed hand and forearm. The manner in which Juan Ribalta has represented the two evangelists is unique in narrative and formal terms, as well in his use of colour. Rather than isolating the saints in their studies, he brings them together in a natural setting closed in by the rocky outcrop. The dramatic atmosphere suggests the figure of the intellectual hermit. Although they appear together, both Matthew and John respond independently to their mystical callings, with an earnestness that seems to isolate each saint in his own visionary world. Matthew’s whole body communicates his tense concentration on his task and his obliviousness to his surroundings. This tension extends from his calloused, wrinkled feet, through his right knee awkwardly pressed against a rock, to his hand that holds the pen. John, meanwhile, provides a felicitous counterpoint to Matthew´s cramped posture, as he lifts his body and arm, a gesture echoed in the eagle beside him. John´s figure is marked by its great beauty and the expressive contrast between his right foot and hand, which press against the rock, and his left hand and face, which point toward heaven in a gesture that conveys all the yearning of the mystical experience. The sense of the saints´ withdrawal and yearning is accentuated by both the impending storm, whose lyricism recalls the landscapes by Pedro Orrente (P1015), and the precise naturalist technique that allows the artist to bestow every detail with significance. This painting and its pendant came to the Prado from the Royal Collections, which the paintings probably entered during the reign of Charles IV. It has been supposed that they were among the Valencian artists´ paintings that the monarch purchased during his voyage to the east coast of Spain in 1802, as he sought to ensure the Valencian school was well represented in the Royal Collections (Text drawn from Portús, J.: Portrait of Spain. Masterpieces from the Prado, Queensland Art Gallery-Art Exhibitions Australia, 2012, p. 134).
