José Ribera's workshop

Spanish school seventeenth century. Workshop of JOSÉ DE RIBERA (Xátiva, Valencia, 1591 - Naples, 1652).
"The smell".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has a frame of the nineteenth century.
Measurements: 112 x 90 cm; 127 x 105 cm (frame).
This work follows the models of the painting "The smell" that belongs to the series "The five senses", painted by José de Ribera when he was in Rome, currently in the collection Juan Abelló. As did "El Españoleto", the artist of our canvas captures the image in a naturalistic style inspired by Caravaggio, from whom he takes the violent tenebrist lighting and the use of humble figures. Thus, the sense of smell is represented by a mature man, dressed in a threadbare shirt of undefined color due to dirt, seated before an austere wooden table on which an onion and a head of garlic can be seen. In his hands he holds an onion, while looking directly at the viewer.
The style of this canvas corresponds to Ribera's first stage, in which he faithfully follows the dictates of Caravaggio by using a powerful spotlight of clear light that, coming from the left, intensely illuminates the figure, creating a marked contrast with the background. Naturalism leads the painter to represent as faithfully as possible each and every detail. The brown and dark tones also correspond to the characteristics of this style. The models are people taken from everyday life, humanizing the painting, both profane and sacred. Sight and Smell are other companions of the series.

José de Ribera, called the Españoleto, was a key master of the Spanish Baroque, and in general of the history of art at the European level. Although no documentary sources or evidence of his youth are preserved, it is believed that he trained with Francisco Ribalta in Valencia, after which he went to Italy, first to the north and later to Rome, where he learned first-hand about the classicists and the tenebrism of the Dutch who settled there. Finally he settled in Naples, where he arrived in 1616. Then began his period of maturity and splendor; Ribera enjoyed fame and a large workshop, and his works spread throughout Europe through engravings. He worked for viceroys and high officials of Spanish origin settled in Naples, so many of his works soon reached Spain. He was in fact famous in his native country, and in fact Velázquez himself visited him in 1630. Today works by Ribera are kept in the Prado Museum, the Louvre, the Capodimonte Museum, the Fine Arts Museum in Budapest, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Kunsthistorisches and Liechtenstein Museums in Vienna, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Art Institute in Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the National Gallery and the Royal Collection in London, the Borghese Gallery in Rome and other important art galleries in Europe, America and Asia.