Portrait of a Musician

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Portrait of a Musician

Artist Jusepe de Ribera (Spanish, baptized in 1591, died 1652)

Date1638

DimensionsPainting: 30 3/8 × 24 5/8 in. (77.2 × 62.5 cm)
Frame: 36 1/2 × 31 × 3 in. (92.7 × 78.7 × 7.6 cm)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1926.61

Not on View

Label TextThe roll of music paper in this man’s right hand suggests that he is a musician. It was once proposed that he might be Giovanni Maria Trabaci, a composer and the music director of the royal chapel in Naples where Jusepe de Ribera painted this portrait. However, in 1638, Trabaci was in his 60s, while the man in the painting appears much younger. His identity remains a mystery. Ribera was born in the province of Valencia, Spain, but as a young man he moved to Italy—first to Rome, and then to Naples, where he remained for the rest of his life. His characteristic painting style is evident in this portrait, particularly in the face and hands. He painted with thick layers of paint, called impasto (from Italian for “paste”), using the paintbrush bristles to simulate the natural texture of skin.Published ReferencesMayer, A.L., Jusepe de Ribera (Lo Spagnoletto), Leipzig, 1908, pp. 124-125, pl. XXVII; 2nd ed., 1923, pp. 127-128, pl. XXXIII.

L'Arte, 1909, p. 79.

Munoz, A., Pièces de choix du collection du Comte Grégoire Stroganoff, Rome, 1912, II, p. 107, pl. LXXXII.

Mayer, A.L., La pintura espanola, 2nd. ed., Barcelona, 1929, p. 149.

Art News, vol. 34, Oct. 12, 1935, p. 4, repr.

Godwin, Blake-More, Catalogue of European Paintings, Toledo, 1939, p. 24, repr. p. 25.

Art Bulletin, vol. 23, Sept. 1941, p. 224.

Kapterewa, T., Velázquez und die spanische Porträtmalerei, Leipzig, 1956, pp. 39-40, pl. 23.

Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin, Winter 1957, p. 74, repr. p. 15.

Gaya Nuno, J.A., La pintura espanola fuera de Espana, Madrid, 1958, no. 2348.

Kubler, G., and M. Soria, Art and Architecture in Spain and Portugal and their American Dominions, 1500-1800, Harmondsworth, 1959, p. 241.

Prota-Giurleo, U., "Giovanni Maria Trabaci e gli organisti della Real Cappella di Palazzo di Napoli," L'Organo, Dec. 1960, pp. 190-191, repr.

Gilbert, Creighton, "Baroque Painters of Naples," Ringling Museums Bulletin, vol. 1, no. 2, March 1961, p. 16, repr. no. 11.

Rogers, Millard F., "La pintura española en el Museuo de Toledo (Ohio)," Goya, numero 49, Julio-Agosto, 1962, p. 24, repr. p. 24.

"Noticias de Arts 'Del Greco a Goya,''' exposicíon de pintura española en los Estados Unidos," Goya, no. 54, 1963, p. 420.

A Guide to the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1966, repr.

Rogers, Millard F., "Spanish Art," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 10, no. 2, Summer 1967, repr. p. 37.

Felton, C. M., "Jusepe de Ribera: A Catalogue Raisonné," unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1971, p. 35, no. A-64, repr.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 138, 141, pl. 57.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 44.

Spinoza, Nicola, L'opera completa del Ribera, Milano, 1978, no. 124, p. 113, repr.

Haraszti-Takács, Marianna, Spanish Genre Painting in the Seventeenth Century, Budapest, 1983, p. 210, repr. pl. 67.

Spike, John T., Baroque Portraiture in Italy, Sarasota, 1984, repr. p. 212 (not in exhibition).

Bossa, Renato, "La musica nella Napoli del Seicento," in Civiltà del Seicento a Napoli, Naples, 1984, vol. 2, repr. p. 25.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 89 repr. (col.).

Spinosa, Nicola, Ribera, Napoli, Electra, 2003, pp. 174, 312, repr. p. 152 (col.).

Roglan, Mark A., ed., Spanish Art in America, Madrid, Spain, Ediciones El Viso, 2016, pp. 238-239, repr. (col.) p. 237 (general section on TMA, pp. 233-239).

Exhibition HistoryNew York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Spanish Paintings from El Greco to Goya, 1928, no. 54, repr.

San Diego, San Diego Museum of Fine Arts, Spanish Paintings, 1930.

Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum, Spanish Art, 1935, no. 52.

Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, Portraits and Portraiture Throughout the Ages, 1937, no. 11.

Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, Spanish Painting, 1941, p. 86, no. 54, repr. (cat. by J. Gudiol).

Columbus, Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Spanish Exhibition, 1954.

Oberlin, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Paintings and Graphics by Jusepe de Ribera, 1957, no. 5, repr.

Los Angeles, University of California, 1960.

San Diego, San Diego Museum of Art, 1960.

Sarasota, Ringling Museums, Baroque Painters of Naples, 1961, no. 11, repr. (cat. by C. Gilbert).

Los Angeles, Dickson Art Center; San Diego, San Diego Fine Arts Gallery, Spanish Masters, 1961, no. 9.

Providence, RI, Providence Museum of Art, 1963.