Jusepe de Ribera moved at a very young age to Italy, where he came to be known as ôlo Spagnoletto,ö o
r the little Spaniard, and spent the rest of his life there. He stayed first in Parma and then in Rome, where he was able to admire the revolutionary painting of Caravaggio, along with the works of Raphael and Michelangelo. Finally he settled in Naples,
the capital of the Spanish viceroyalty, in the service of the duke of Osuna. This marked the beginning of a long period of intense activity, during which de Ribera received commissions from the viceroys of Naples, Spanish noblemen, and the cityÆs religio
us orders. For the duke of Osuna he painted the \i Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew\i0 (1630) along with other canvases of sacred subjects, most of them destined for the collegiate church of Osuna (Andalusia). The traits of crude realism that marked the S
panish artistÆs early work are still visible in \i the Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew\i0 . Subsequently and partly through the influence of the Spanish painter Diego Velßzquez, who passed through Naples in 1630, de RiberaÆs realism took on subtler tones
while his palette grew lighter and his compositions assumed a degree of monumentality. Works from the artistÆs maturity include the two versions of \i Apollo and Marsyas\i0 (1637), in which the mythological theme is treated with a descriptive and highly
poetic realism. In 1664 de Ribera fell ill and was forced to reduce his painting output. Yet, he was still capable of producing works of great quality, such as the \i Adoration of the Shepherds\i0 (1650) in which the painterÆs style displays several ne
w traits with light playing a more dominant role, poetically underlining the sacred character of the scene in a manner similar to that of Zurbarßn and Murillo.
