Sevillian school; second half of the XVII century.

Sevillian school; second half of the seventeenth century.
"Head of St. Paul.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 53 x 77 cm; 75 x 96 cm (frame).
A dark and practically neutral background, in which a landscape is barely insinuated, places this work in clear harmony with the Spanish Baroque painting of the seventeenth century. In addition, the iconography and, above all, the remarkable technical realism with which the face, the true expressive core of the composition, is treated. The painter dispenses with accessory elements to concentrate all the visual and emotional intensity on the head of the character, following a common strategy in devotional painting of the period.
The saint is depicted as an elderly man, recognizable by his abundant beard and hair completely white. His expression is profoundly naturalistic, although softened by a slight idealization that ennobles his features and elevates them to a spiritual dimension. The features are accentuated by a powerful spotlight that falls directly on the face, modeling it with strong hallmarks of chiaroscuro and leaving the rest of the pictorial surface submerged in a dense penumbra. This light treatment, of great dramatic charge, refers to the pictorial languages developed in the environment of Valdés Leal and Murillo, where light acts as an expressive and symbolic instrument at the same time.
The identity of the character is clearly established by the presence of the sword, visible in the foreground, an unmistakable iconographic attribute of Saint Paul. This element alludes both to his martyrdom and to his role as defender and propagator of the Christian faith, symbolizing the "sword of the word" with which he spread the Gospel.
According to historical tradition, St. Paul was beheaded in Rome between 64 and 67 A.D., during the persecution of Christians ordered by Emperor Nero. As a Roman citizen, he was granted this type of execution, considered quicker and more honorable than crucifixion. The work, by focusing on the aged and serene face of the apostle, seems to evoke not so much the violent episode of his death as the dignity and spiritual firmness of one who accepted martyrdom as the culmination of his evangelizing mission.