ISIDORO DE TAPIA (Valencia, 1712 - Madrid, 1778).
"Saint Anthony of Padua.
Oil on canvas. Antique re-colouring.
It presents restorations.
Measurements: 82 x 61,5 cm.
The clear and powdered tonalities with which the author captures this devotional scene, added to the great tenderness that can be deduced from the faces and the corporal attitude of the protagonists, place the work in the 18th century, close to the aesthetic precepts of the Rococo style. Far removed from Baroque representations, the artist places Saint Anthony holding the Nile in his arms, both of them set in a vaporous and subtle break of glory, whose golden tones add warmth to the scene, a common device in the artist's pictorial work. Saint Anthony of Padua is, after Saint Francis of Assisi, the most popular of the Franciscan saints. He was born in Lisbon in 1195 and only spent the last two years of his life in Padua. After studying at the convent of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, he entered the Order of Friars Minor in 1220, where he changed his Christian name from Fernando to Antonio. After teaching theology in Bologna, he travelled through southern and central France, preaching in Arles, Montpellier, Puy, Limoges and Bourges. In 1227 he took part in the general chapter at Assisi. In 1230 he was involved in the transfer of the remains of St Francis. He preached in Padua and died there at the age of 36 in 1231. He was canonised only a year after his death, in 1232.
According to Ceán Bermúdez, the Valencian painter Isidoro de Tapia trained with Evaristo Muñoz. In Valencia he executed several works commissioned by the public, and in 1743 he moved to Madrid. He joined the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, where he was appointed a meritorious academician in 1755. It is thought that he also spent some time working in Portugal. He taught drawing at the Academy until his death, and also worked for the Royal Stables of the Royal Palace. Although few signed works by his hand are known, Ismael Gutiérrez Pastor compiled a small catalogue of twenty-eight works that provide an insight into the personality of this painter, and also reconstructed his life from known and unpublished documents. Works by Isidoro de Tapia are currently held in the San Fernando Academy and other collections.