Spanish school of the late 16th-early 17th centuries

Spanish school, late sixteenth century - pps.s.XVII.
"Saint Matthew". Based on an engraving by HENDRICK GOLTZIUS (Bracht, 1558 - Haarlem, 1617).
Oil on canvas.
Needs restoration.
Measurements: 103,5 x 82 cm; 126 x 103,5 cm (frame).
Representation of half a body of St. Matthew the Apostle, based on the engraving of Hendrick Goltzius included in the series "Christ, the twelve apostles and St. Paul" (also known as "The short Creed", because each print was accompanied by a verse of the Creed). This painting, of tenebrist lights and mannerist workmanship, follows Goltzius' model in the gestural dramaturgy and the wide canon, but the face appears more idealized and less aged than in the model. The Caravaggist imprint can be seen in the palette. Goltzius gave special prominence to the hands, furrowed with veins, as well as to the musculature, making tendons visible. A melting pot of influences converged in his painting: Michelangelo, Raphael? but also the classical statuary that the Dutch engraver had studied in depth in the Vatican collection.
Hendrick Goltzius was a Dutch draughtsman, engraver and painter. Considered the best Netherlandish engraver of Nordic Mannerism, he is renowned for his sophisticated technique and the "exuberance" of his compositions. Goltzius formed his style in the taste of Mannerism, of which Haarlem was a stronghold until late. This was influenced by the painter and theorist Karel van Mander, who had moved to the city from Vienna, bringing with him designs by Bartholomeus Spranger, the leading Mannerist painter outside Italy. In Rome, Goltzius carefully studied the art of Michelangelo, Raphael Sanzio and lesser-known masters such as Polidoro da Caravaggio. Goltzius engraved six planetary gods that Polidoro had painted in a palace on the Quirinal. His style evolved towards a more measured classicism, which presents the characters in larger clothes, and more relaxed expressions. He was a meticulous yet productive engraver. Among his early series, a series of Christ and the Apostles (1589), called The Creed, stands out. Around 1594, he created a series of six large plates on the life of the Virgin, for which he went back almost a century to imitate six different masters, including Dürer, Parmigianino, Titian and Lucas van Leyden. These engravings were so admired that they deserved the nickname "Meisterstiche" (masterly engravings).