Ribera, Jusepe de, << ree BAY rah, hoo SAY pay day >> (1588-1652), was a Spanish painter. Many of his paintings show Christian martyrdoms and saints doing penance. Until 1635, Ribera’s style showed the influence of the Italian painter Michelangelo Caravaggio. Ribera then used somber colors and placed realistic figures in simple, diagonal compositions. Between 1635 and 1639, influenced by the Italian painters Correggio and Titian, he used brighter colors and more complex compositions. Elements of these earlier styles are found in his work after 1639.
Ribera was born in Jativa, near Valencia, Spain. In 1616, he settled in Naples, Italy, then a Spanish territory. He became very successful and never returned to Spain. The Italians nicknamed him Lo Spagnoletto (Little Spaniard). He died on Sept. 3, 1652.
