Escuela española; S. XVII

Spanish school; first half of the 17th century
"Santiago Apostle".
Oil on canvas. Re-coloured.
It presents repainting and restorations.
Measurements: 210 cm x 150 cm.
Standing upright in the centre of the scene is the image of an imposing man by the rotundity and the volume of his forms. The cross of St. James on his chest, together with the shell on the hat resting on his back, indicate that he is the apostle St. James. It is also worth mentioning that the staff he holds in one of his hands is a symbol of the apostolic mission of spreading the message of Christ that Jesus gave to his apostles. In the Bible he is usually referred to under the name of James, a term that passed into Latin as Iacobus and derived in names such as Iago, Tiago and Santiago (sanctus Iacobus). James of Zebedee or James the Greater was one of the first disciples to shed his blood and die for Jesus. A member of a family of fishermen, brother of John the Evangelist - both nicknamed Boanerges ('Sons of Thunder'), because of their impulsive temperaments - and one of the three closest disciples of Jesus Christ, the apostle James was not only present at two of the most important moments in the life of the Christian Messiah - the transfiguration on Mount Tabor and the prayer in the Garden of Olives - but was also part of the restricted group that witnessed his last miracle, his resurrected appearance on the shores of Lake Tiberias. After Christ's death, James, passionate and impetuous, formed part of the initial group of the early Church in Jerusalem and, in his evangelising work, he was assigned, according to medieval traditions, the Spanish peninsular territory, specifically the northwestern region, then known as Gallaecia. Some theories suggest that the current patron saint of Spain arrived in the northern lands via the uninhabited coast of Portugal. Others, however, suggest that he travelled along the Ebro valley and the Cantabrian Roman road, and there are even those that claim that Santiago reached the Peninsula via what is now Cartagena, from where he set out on his journey to the western corner of the map.
Aesthetically the work is close to the aesthetic patterns of authors such as Van der Hamen, or Juan de Roelas, of Flemish origin, as seems to be attested by a notarial document of 1594, where, together with his father, a certain Jacques, both from Flanders, he undertakes to repay a loan of 300 reales, played an essential role in the assumption of naturalistic forms in Valladolid, Seville and Madrid, where he was active until his death in Olivares in 1625. In 1598 Roelas was active in Valladolid, where he collaborated in the design of the funerary monument to King Philip II. He remained there until 1604, when he settled in Olivares, a town near Seville, as a protégé of the Count-Duke of Olivares. Here he painted some of his most outstanding and monumental works, such as the Circumcision in 1606, the Martyrdom of Saint Andrew (Seville Museum of Fine Arts) and the Transitus of Saint Isidore. He began his ecclesiastical career in Olivares and in 1614, having been ordained a cleric, he was appointed royal chaplain. With this post he moved to Madrid, seeking a career as a court painter, although he never obtained the title of Pintor del Rey ("Painter to the King") and returned to Olivares. In the last years of his life his artistic career took a back seat and he devoted himself to religious life as a canon of the Collegiate Church of Olivares. Although it has been assumed that he was trained in Italy, no document supports this hypothesis. It is certain, however, that his style is connected with the Venetian school, in its warm colouring and balanced sense of composition. It is likely that he could have studied works by Veronese and Tintoretto.

Presenta repintes y restauraciones.