San Isidro (Juan van der Hamen)
Juan van der Hamen y León , 1620–1622
141 cm × 100 cm
Oil on canvas
National Gallery of Ireland , Dublin
San Isidro is a painting created around 1620–1622 by the Spanish painter Juan van der Hamen y León . The 141 cm × 100 cmpicture, paintedin oil on canvas, depicts Saint Isidore of Madrid . It is an early history painting by Juan van der Hamens and is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin .
description
The picture shows Saint Isidro of Madrid who lived in Torrelaguna near Madrid between around 1080 and 1130 . He worked all his life for the wealthy peasant Juan de Vargas. Isidro married the country woman María de la Cabeza, who is also venerated as a saint, and fathered his son with her. He died after a short time and the two subsequently swore to devote their lives entirely to God. Even his master de Vargas came to worship Isidro and witnessed angels taking his place at the plow so that he could pray. After his death, his body is said to have remained intact and worked miraculously. Also saving the life of King Philip III. was attributed to him.
In his picture Juan van der Hamen followed the tradition that San Isidro was shown in a Castilian landscape. In the right half of the background van der Hamen showed a residence with the Herrera architecture some distance away . In front of this the plow led by an angel can be seen in the middle distance. The left half of the background and middle ground is kept dark. San Isidro is in the center of the foreground. His gaze is directed towards the sky, his left hand rests on a hoe.
background
The painting by Juan van der Hamen stood out from other paintings on this subject from this period due to its stronger tenebrism , which defines the outline of the figure. The painting John the Baptist at Prayer , which was also made between 1620 and 1622 and was one of his early works, has this quality . The subject of the picture was in demand in Madrid at the time, so that van der Hamen served the interests of customers. The painting was supposed to create vibrancy by suggesting the movement in which San Isidro was captured, but the painting has a stiffness that can be found in some of the painter's works. In the treatment of light and the figure drawing, van der Hamens San Isidro is close to the naturalism of Orazio Borgianni .
literature
- William B. Jordan : Juan van der Hamen y León & The Court of Madrid . Yale University Press, New Haven 2005. ISBN 0-300-11318-8 .