The Consecration of Saint Ambrose as Archbishop
Ca. 1673.Not on display
The episodes from the life of Saint Ambrose were commissioned from Juan de Valdés Leal (1622-1690) by Ambrosio Ignacio Spínola y Guzmán (1632-1684), Archbishop of Seville, for his private oratory. They are markedly specular in nature given that the saint and archbishop share the same name, ecclesiastical rank and connections with northern Italy. The series was conceived by Spínola as a model of exemplary behaviour to the extent that the settings evoke the streets and churches of Seville and the saint’s features are those of the archbishop.
The political abilities and peace-making attitude demonstrated by Ambrose (4th century) as governor of Liguria and Emilia led him to also be proclaimed archbishop of Milan, against his will and despite not even being baptised. His immediate baptism is referred to here through the large altarpiece with the Gospel scene on this subject.
The series remind us of an aspect of the art of this period that is sometimes overlooked, namely that painting was an essentially narrative language which, with regard to the type considered superior at the time, had the purpose of recounting a story. This was frequently a sequential or serial narrative, which is sometimes difficult to appreciate today as many of these series have been broken up.
Cenalmor, Elena y Portús, Javier, Juan Valdés Leal. Serie de la vida de San Ambrosio. En: El hijo pródigo de Murillo y el arte de narrar en el Barroco andaluz, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2021, p.131-163
