Attributed to Sebastián de LLanos y Valdés; 17th century.

Attributed to SEBASTIÁN DE LLANOS Y VALDÉS (ca. 1605-1677).
"San Blas.
Oil on canvas.
It has a frame of the nineteenth century, with faults.
Measurements: 59.5 x 78 cm; 85.5 x 102 cm (frame).
In this scene of great dramatism, that follows the tenebrist inheritance, as for the luminous expressiveness, the author only picks up the face of the saint, with the closed eyelids and to his right the mitre and in front of him the papal crosier. Both iconographic attributes identify the character as Saint Blaise. Formally, the tenebrism stands out, also derived from the Italian painter, which is based on a focus of artificial light, directed, which penetrates the painting through the lower left corner and affects the face of the saint and the edge of the sword. The chromatism is also typical of the Sevillian school, very limited around the ochers, earthy, reflecting the warm and naturalistic atmosphere.
Stylistically the work has great similarities with the painting of Sebastián de Llanos y Valdés. A Spanish Baroque painter, active in Seville and apparently a disciple of Francisco de Herrera el Viejo, the style of Sebastián de Llanos Valdés shows much influence of Francisco de Zurbarán. He is known to be Mayor of the Painters Guild in Seville in 1653, and it is assumed (according to contemporary texts), with a comfortable economic position. In addition, he co-founded the Academy of Drawing of San Lucas in 1660, together with Murillo and Herrera el Mozo. His work is preserved in the Cathedral of Seville, in addition to some monumental Evangelists in the Casa de Pilatos of the same city. The seventeenth century marked the arrival of the Baroque in the Sevillian school, with the triumph of naturalism over Mannerist idealism, loose workmanship and many other aesthetic liberties. At this time the school reached its greatest splendor, both for the quality of the works and for the primordial rank of Sevillian Baroque painting. Thus, during the transition to Baroque we find Juan del Castillo, Antonio Mohedano and Francisco Herrera el Viejo, in whose works the rapid brushstroke and the crude realism of the style is already manifested, and Juan de Roelas, introducer of Venetian colorism. In the middle of the century the period reached its peak, with figures such as Zurbarán, a young Alonso Cano and Velázquez. Finally, in the last third of the century we find Murillo and Valdés Leal, founders in 1660 of an Academy where many of the painters active during the first quarter of the 18th century were trained, such as Meneses Osorio, Sebastián Gómez, Lucas Valdés and others.