Francisco Bayeu y Subías

FRANCISCO BAYEU (Zaragoza, 1734 – Madrid, 1795); Last third of the 18th century.
“Immaculate Conception.”
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Shows signs of restoration.
Comes with a certificate of authenticity by José Gómez Frechina.
Measurements: 150 x 110 cm, 169 x 128 cm (frame).
This work depicts the Immaculate Conception, dressed in white and blue, standing on clouds with the moon at her feet, and surrounded by numerous angels and angelic heads. The piece displays a purely 18th-century style that retains the theatricality of the Baroque, as seen in the fluid composition created by the lightness with which all the elements in the lower part of the painting are rendered, although it is true that, in terms of color palette, the artist employs warmer, softer hues. Dominating the scene is the gold, which serves as a sky and a halo, but also the pastel blues and pinks so characteristic of the period. The definitive iconographic image of the Immaculate Conception took shape in the 16th century, apparently in Spain. Following a Valencian tradition, the Jesuit Father Alberro had a vision and described it to the painter Juan de Juanes so that he might depict it as faithfully as possible. This is an evolved iconographic concept, which is sometimes associated with the theme of the Coronation of the Virgin.
Francisco Bayeu, a member of a notable family of artists and brother to the painters Ramón and Manuel, was also Francisco de Goya’s brother-in-law. He began his training in his native Zaragoza, attending the studio of Juan Andrés Merklein, a painter of Bohemian origin, and the drawing classes of José Luzán Martínez. As early as 1756, he won the Extraordinary Prize from the San Fernando Academy, which earned him a scholarship in 1758 to study for two years at the San Fernando Academy in Madrid. However, Bayeu left the academy just two months later due to disagreements with one of the professors, Antonio González Velázquez. He then returned to Zaragoza, where his financial situation became difficult because the death of his parents forced him to take charge of his family. He then began his career as a painter, carrying out commissions for churches and convents in the city. Around this time, in 1759, he married Sebastiana Merklein, his teacher’s daughter. During these years, he developed a still-youthful artistic style, marked by the influence of Lucas Jordán and Corrado Giaquinto. However, in 1762, Anton Rafael Mengs, the court’s principal painter, visited Zaragoza and offered him the opportunity to work alongside him on the decoration of the new Royal Palace. Thanks to Mengs’s patronage, Bayeu carried out various decorative commissions for the Royal Sites, thereby establishing himself as one of the most prominent painters of the time. Among these early works for the court, the fresco decoration of the vaults in the dining room of the queen’s quarters (“The Surrender of Granada”) and in the antechamber of the Princes of Asturias (“The Fall of the Giants”) are particularly noteworthy. In these works, his Baroque training is still evident, but elements characteristic of his mature style are already discernible, such as the elegance of the figures’ poses, meticulous detail, neoclassical lighting effects, and perfect anatomical rendering. By the 1760s, his neoclassical aesthetic had fully matured, characterized by clean, precise linework and a color palette that plays with the hallmarks of reds and yellows against a background of blues and grays.