Helena Almeida: 'Seduzir' [To Seduce, 2002] (detail)

Collection

Anunciación [Annunciation]

Image caption
LUCA GIORDANO  (Workshop of)

Anunciación [Annunciation]

  • c. 1650
  • Oil on canvas
  • 48 x 38 cm
  • Cat. P_78
  • Acquired in 1975
By:
Alfonso Pérez Sánchez

When it was originally acquired, this painting was believed to be the work of Maella. However, the style is actually closer to that of Luca Giordano, which would make it considerably older. One can clearly see Giordano's figures, attitudes and technique, although the work lacks the masterful confidence seen in originals by the artist.

One particularly appealing feature of this small composition is the dynamic figure of the angel with raised arm, dressed in yellow and red, warm colours inspired by remote Venetian Titian models that Giordano skilfully added to his repertoire. It is most likely the work of his workshop or of one of his disciples or imitators, who has replicated the master's style with obvious skill. In any case, it is clearly far too early to be attributed to Maella; although he sometimes used motifs from the Giordanesque tradition, he never displayed any direct links to the lineage of the Italian master.

Alfonso Pérez Sánchez

 
By:
Alfonso Pérez Sánchez
Luca Giordano
Naples 1634 - Naples 1705

Giordano was trained in the workshop of José de Ribera, whose rich and pictorial tenebrism he skilfully imitated. An extraordinarily gifted artist, he was capable of mimicking the styles of others, from the grave realism of his master to classicism of Raphael and the precision of the Flemish painters. He was almost legendary for the speed with which he completed his paintings and his career constitutes an important chapter in the history of the Baroque. After a trip to Rome in around 1650, he became acquainted with the art of Pietro de Cortona. His admiration for the world of Venetian art was sealed on his visit to Venice in around 1665, when he painted the large canvases for the church of Santa Maria della Salute. In the 1680s he worked in the Medici-Riccardi palace and the Santa Maria del Carmine church in Florence. In 1692, he moved to Spain on the service of King Charles II, for whom he produced, perhaps, his finest work: the vaults of the Escorial, the Casón del Buen Retiro, the sacristy of the cathedral of Toledo and hundreds of canvases. He returned to Italy in 1702.

He is undoubtedly one of the pillars of the decorative Baroque and had a huge influence on the development of 18th century painting in Italy and Spain.

Alfonso Pérez Sánchez

 
 
Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez & Julián Gállego Banco de España. Colección de Banco, Madrid, Banco de España, 1985. Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez, Julián Gállego & María José Alonso Colección de pintura del Banco de España, Madrid, Banco de España, 1988. Vv.Aa. Colección Banco de España. Catálogo razonado, Madrid, Banco de España, 2019, vol. 1.