Francisco Varela

FRANCISCO VARELA (Seville?, ca. 1580/1592- 1645).
"St. Joseph with Child".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has a frame of the nineteenth century with damage caused by xylophagous.
Measurements: 205 x 134 cm; 239 x 166 cm (frame).
This painting represents a scene of great symbolic and emotional charge, in which Saint Joseph of monumental figure guides the Baby Jesus by the hand. The composition emphasizes the paternal and protective relationship through the arrangement of the figures: the adult, of majestic bearing and covered by a red cloak that contrasts with the green of his tunic, firmly holds the child's hand, establishing a physical and emotional connection that is prolonged in the visual contact between the two. Their faces, strongly illuminated, direct the viewer's attention to this silent dialogue.
The lighting comes from the left and bathes the scene with fields of warm color, generating an atmosphere of proximity and humanization typical of baroque naturalism. Unlike other representations of the same theme, in which symbolic elements are usually abundant, here the scene is kept sober: the only attribute is the staff of lilies that the saint carries in his right hand, a traditional symbol of his purity.
Few works attributed to Luis Tristan are known, which increases the interest in the piece. In fact, another version of this iconography is preserved in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, which, after being restored, revealed details of classical architecture in the background, a feature that could be linked to this composition.
Francisco Varela was a Baroque artist active in Seville since 1606. It is known that in 1625 a master was in charge of checking the aptitude of the aspiring artist to join the painters' guild in the city. Like most of the painters of his generation, his was originally a mannerist style that evolved towards naturalism, anticipating in some aspects the model later developed by Francisco de Zurbarán. The work that has come down to us from Varela is scarce. There are two representations of the Last Supper, one of them made in 1622, probably inspired by a mannerist engraving, is in the Church of San Bernardo in Seville, the other with a very similar iconography, was acquired in 2004 by the Junta de Andalucía, is exhibited in the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville. Also noteworthy are the Portrait of Martínez Montañés (1616) belonging to the city of Seville and San Miguel Arcángel (1629). One of his last known works, executed in 1640, is the set of paintings made for the Convent of the Passion of Seville, which are also exhibited in the Museum of Fine Arts. The series consists of St. Christopher and St. Augustine, St. Catherine of Siena with St. Lucy and St. Catherine of Alexandria with St. Teresa of Jesus.