Jusepe de Ribera, called Lo Spagnoletto

London, National Gallery, on loan, 1992-1993;
Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, on loan, 1993-2005. 

The bearded figure is shown holding a compass and is probably intended to be a philosopher, rather than a geometer (as he has been described in the past; see under Provenance). The philosopher may be intended to be Aristotle or Euclid, but a convincing identification has so far proved elusive. The painting derives in part from a three-quarter-length figure by Ribera. The prime original, probably lost or destroyed and only known to us through contemporary copies, once belonged to a series of six philosophers painted for Don Fernando Atan de Ribera y Enríquez (1570-1637), 3rd Duke of Alcalá, who was Viceroy of Naples in the early 1630s. Series of apostles or philosophers are common in Ribera’s oeuvre and are inspired by the Spanish convention of Apostolades (apostle series).

This particular painting appears to be the only known variant in which only the head and shoulders are shown. Good studio copies of the three-quarter length figure include a painting sold, New York, Christie’s, 27 January 2000, lot 23 (believed by Prof. Nicola Spinosa to be an autograph replica at the time of the sale), and another, recorded in 1999 as with Eufemio Diez Monsalve in Madrid (for which see Spinosa, under Literature, cat. no. B17, reproduced), and another variant, in which the figure is shown holding a ruler instead of a compass (and therefore identified as an architect), was sold, New York, Sotheby’s, 10 January 1991, lot 79. All these works are generally dated to the beginning of the 1630s.

Although probably identifiable with the painting listed by Spinosa in his monograph as a partial copy (with incorrect measurements; see Literature), the picture has recently been examined by Prof. Nicola Spinosa in the original and he plans to publish the work as an autograph replica in the forthcoming second edition to his catalogue raisonné.