This Ribera exhibition at the Petit Palais is a real event since, for the first time, a retrospective devoted to this artist – the first in France – allows us to finally compare his works from the beginning in Rome, with those from the rest of his career which he spent entirely in Naples, where he made many imitators. It is only relatively recently in fact – only around twenty years – that thanks to the Art historian Gianni Papi, a whole section of his production, formerly brought together under the name of the convention of Master of the Judgment of Solomon , could be returned to him. An exhibition in Rennes (see the article) then in Strasbourg (see the news item from 4/21/15) made it possible to take stock of this discovery, especially since numerous paintings by this famous, then anonymous, master, we have long thought French, are kept in collections in our country.
- 1. Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652)
The judgment of Solomonaround 1609
Oil on canvas – 153 x 201 cm
Rome, Borghese Gallery
Photo : Wikimedia (domaine public)
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See the image on his page
The identification of one with the other is almost unanimous today, even if some believe that all the works of the Master of the Judgment of Solomon are not by the same hand. We will leave it to the specialists to debate this question, which does not seem to really arise. There is in fact a real coherence in the route that the exhibition offers, and we do not see any solution of continuity between the paintings formerly given to the Master of the Judgment of Solomon and those always recognized as by Ribera.
We will profitably read in the catalog the interview between Annick Lemoine and Gianni Papi to understand how this identification could be made, which seems obvious today but which was not. Let us point out here that Editions Paris Musées have produced this time an excellent catalogue, rich in essays and notices, which is what we expect…
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