"according To Jusepe Ribera, Mater Dolorosa"

After Jusepe RIBERA, Mater Dolorosa
Oil on canvas.
Gilded wooden frame.
Dimensions: H. 46 cm, W. 38 cm
Dimensions with frame: H. 52 cm, W. 44 cm

Our work is a 19th century reworking of the subject of the Mater Dolorosa treated on various occasions by the master Jusepe Ribera. (In attached photos, the version of the Hermitage and that of the Kassel museum).

Here, the framing is tightened on the figure of the mother of Jesus who emerges from the darkness in a dramatic chiaroscuro. The same compositional choice is found in Géricault's version, visible at the Kunstmuseum Basel in Basel, which presents the figure as close as possible to the viewer.
Like Ribera, our anonymous artist focuses on the psychological truth of the Virgin and strives to translate the expression of her pain in an almost tactile transcription of reality. The reddened eyes of the Virgin echo the pinkish twists of her firmly intertwined fingers and allow a semblance of a tear to appear at the corner of her eyelids.
This figure of profound humanity imposes itself on the viewer by its silent presence.