Saint Matthias

The master Toledo painter Luis Tristán (c. 1586–1624) painted an exceptional portrait of Saint Matthias (San Matías), an example of the early Spanish Naturalist movement. The painting is part of an Apostolado (a series of portraits of the 12 Apostles), where Saint Matthias (Matthaeus), the apostle who replaced Judas Iscariot, is portrayed in a three-quarter-length portrait rising out of a dark background in Tristán's work. The saint appears as a bearded old man with a deeply wrinkled face and crumbling hands, resting his hand on a halberd (poleaxe) and carrying an open sacred text. He is depicted as a martyr as a result of his beheading, which is the main iconographic element of the halberd. The dramatic lighting, chiaroscuro, is done with one strong light source which illuminates the face, hands, and the very thick drapery in pink and blue, while the rest of the surface is in deep shadow. Tristán was El Greco’s very gifted pupil, who had worked directly in his workshop in Toledo from 1603 to 1606 and later went to Italy. Saint Matthias has been chosen to portray an important moment in the history of Spanish art, a moment in which the spiritualized Mannerist style of El Greco was followed by the sober and naturalistic style of Caravaggio. The elongated stance and expressive hands are influenced by El Greco’s style, but the weathered skin, realistic facial features, and earthy colors are clearly inspired by Caravaggisti naturalism, which Tristán encountered firsthand in Rome. An important synthesis in the evolution of the painting, in the direction of the mature Spanish Baroque style which was to be developed by Diego Velázquez and Jusepe de Ribera.