Francisco Rodríguez de Toledo

FRANCISCO RODRÍGUEZ DE TOLEDO (Toledo, died 1765).
"Imposition of the chasuble to St. Ildefonso".
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower left corner.
Reinforced with bands.
Attached copy of the study "Francisco Rodríguez de Toledo. Painter toledano of the XVIII century" (Anales Toledanos, nº 18, 1984), Juan Nicolau Castro.
Measurements: 178 x 114,5 cm.
Saint Ildefonso of Toledo (Toledo, 607-667), son of Visigoth parents and nephew of Saint Eugenio III, was archbishop of Toledo between 657 and 667, and is one of the Fathers of the Church. He studied in Seville under the tutelage of St. Isidore, and entered the order of St. Benedict fleeing from his parents, nobles who opposed his priestly life. He would later be elected abbot of Agalia, near Toledo, and finally archbishop. St. Ildefonso unified the liturgy in Spain, and wrote numerous liturgical and dogmatic works, particularly on the Virgin Mary. The best known passage of his biography is the miracle of his encounter with the Virgin Mary. On the night of December 18, 665, St. Ildefonso went to the church to sing hymns in honor of Mary, accompanied by his clerics and some other people. However, when they entered, they found the chapel shining with such a dazzling light that they were afraid. All fled except Ildefonso and his two deacons, who entered and approached the altar. Before them stood the Virgin Mary, seated on the bishop's chair, surrounded by a company of virgins singing heavenly songs. Mary beckoned the saint to approach and, having obeyed, she fixed her eyes upon him and said, "You are my chaplain and faithful notary. Receive this chasuble which my Son sends you from his treasury." Having said this, the Virgin herself invested him, instructing him to wear the chasuble only on the feast days designated in her honor.
In his study "Francisco Rodríguez de Toledo. Pintor toledano del siglo XVIII" (Anales Toledanos, nº 18, 1984), Juan Nicolau Castro investigates about the biography of this artist, based on the sources found in the Archivo Histórico Provincial. The scholar points out that he was a painter born in Toledo and that he dictated his will in 1764, dying the following year. Nicolau has found little regarding his professional activity, although he indicates that he was undoubtedly a prestigious artist, given that he appraised numerous paintings in inventories (work commissioned to prestigious masters) and that he worked as a painter in the Cathedral of Toledo during the years in which Andrés Tomé appeared as its painter. He also mentions that in 1756 he was paid 500 reales de vellón for the retouching of about twenty paintings that were to be placed in the sacristy of the Sacristy of the same temple. He mentions only two known paintings by his hand, the first one mentioned by Parro as being located under the tribune of the church of San Miguel, now disappeared, which would represent a Marian theme and would be signed and dated in 1751. The second, which has reached our days, is a monumental "Santiago Matamoros" from the now disappeared Hospital de Santiago de los Caballeros and currently preserved in the auditorium of the Provincial Council of Toledo. Nicolau analyzes the work and points out that "the landscape that is lost in the distance below it presents a rich and subtle gradation of colors that makes us wish to know a greater number of works to better understand the painter's style". The scholar goes on to point out that Rodriguez de Toledo must have enjoyed a comfortable economic situation, given the content of the inventory of his goods, which included a notable collection of 18th century Toledo paintings. Subsequently, researchers Castañón, Blanco and Sánchez (2005) have provided new data on Rodríguez de Toledo's career. Thus, we know today that in 1720 he was commissioned to repaint the paintings of the upper part of the Chapel of San Blas in the Cathedral of Toledo.