Alonso Cano Spanish, 1601-1667 ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST’S VISION OF GOD SN 344 ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST’S VISION OF THE LAMB SN 345 Both oils on canvas, c. 1638 From "The Pages". ARTIST: Cano was an artist of rare versatility in 17th c Spain. He was a painter & sculptor also known for his drawings. While his architectural work was not extensive, his reputation was sufficient for his advice to be sought on the building of the Ochavo chapel in Toledo in 1650. His father worked as an ensamblador (designer of altarpieces) who apprenticed Alonso to Francesco Pacheco’s workshop in Seville just as Velásquez was

completing his own training there, and the two artists became lifelong friends. Pacheco emphasized the importance of drawing, so that Cano’s work was distinguished by its purity of line, contour, and classical feeling. Cano’s artistic legacy is partly measured by the painters and sculptors who later trained in his workshop and went on to become important masters in their own right.

Cano’s personal life was turbulent. In 1626 he married Maria de Figueroa, who came from a family of artists. She died two years later. In 1631 he married Maria Magdalena de Uceda,
the 12-yr old daughter of another artist. (Marriage at such extreme youth can probably be explained by the death of her father shortly thereafter; he must have wanted to assure her future.) Things must not have gone well, however, for 5 years later Cano had to be bailed out of debtor’s prison by a friend. In 1644, when Maria was 25, she was stabbed to death in her bed. Alonso was finally acquitted of the murder - but not until after he was tortured while under suspicion of having hired her assassin.

After some delays (he failed his Latin exam), Cano was ordained as a priest in 1658. Upon his death in1667 he was buried in crypt of the Granada Cathedral.

SUBJECT:
Both of these paintings show St John’s visions as recounted in the Apocalypse.*

PAINTINGS:
In SN 344, John looks upward at a personification of God on His throne surrounded by angels. In SN 345, John looks up at the Lamb of God. In both, John has a very visible halo. Vestigial landscapes support each scene.

These paintings, executed between 1635 and 1638, were originally parts of a large, multi-paneled altarpiece in the convent church of St Paula in Seville. It was the only Cano altarpiece which survived intact, until the paintings were dispersed in 1810.

They portray large-scale figures set close to the picture plane, which would have been clearly legible within their original complex framework. Cano’s elegance of line and clear, pale colors bear more resemblance to the paintings of contemporary Bolognese classicizing artists than to the dark, sculptural images still being produced by his contemporaries in Seville. Cano has used such high key colors and bright lighting to accentuate the visionary nature of the subject matter.

                           
* In 1820 some 12-14 books comprising the Apocalypse were dropped from the King James version. They included books of history, philosophy, tales, and poetry.

Museum Labels

ringlingdocents.org