JUAN ANDRÉS RICCI (Madrid, 1600-Montecassino, 1681)."La Moreneta".Oil on copper.Size: 16,5 x 13,5

JUAN ANDRÉS RICCI (Madrid, 1600-Montecassino, 1681).
"La Moreneta".
Oil on copper.
Size: 16,5 x 13,5 cm.
The painter Juan Andrés Ricci entered the Benedictine monastery of Montserrat in 1627 to study theology. His intellectual development went hand in hand with his pictorial evolution. Here we see a representation of the Virgin of Montserrat (the Moreneta) with the child on her lap, as in the original sculpture, although the painter added sumptuous crowns and bunches of lilies. Behind the Maternity, the unique mountainous terrain is depicted following Flemish models, as can be seen in the use of rich blue and cerulean shades and in the botanical detail.
A painter and theoretician from a family of artists, he was the son of the painter Antonio Ricci de Ancona, who came to Spain to work at El Escorial with Federico Zuccaro and stayed permanently in Madrid, and brother of Francisco, painter to the king in 1656. He must have been educated alongside his father, although Palomino also describes him as a pupil of Maíno. The treatise writer also mentions the success of his paintings at court. However, Ricci left the court to enter the monastery of Montserrat. On entering the Benedictine order he began his intellectual training, which was compulsory for the followers of Benedict of Nursia. He studied theology at Irache and law at Salamanca. All this provided him with a genuine scholarly knowledge which he exploited in his writings on art. A connoisseur of several ancient and modern languages, he called, very much in line with the times, for the liberality of painting, especially in his treatise La pintura sabia (1660-1662), dedicated to the Duchess of Béjar. This text follows the tradition of Alberti in requiring the painter to study geometry, perspective and anatomy, to which he adds the essential role of painting as a disseminator of the religious image, making the painter an emulator of the Deus pictor. All this is accompanied by beautiful drawings in which his knowledge of architecture is also evident. In 1641 he was already away from Montserrat and, after being appointed drawing teacher to Prince Balthasar Charles, he was removed for political reasons. From then on he made several trips to the Castilian monasteries of the order, which he combined with stays in Madrid. He continued to work as a painter in all of them. The best preserved groups of works by the artist are those of San Millán de la Cogolla and the transept of Burgos cathedral. In 1662 he moved to Rome, where he stayed for several years, coming into contact with Pope Alexander VII and Christina of Sweden, to whom he dedicated a new architectural work. In 1667 he was already in the famous monastery of Montecassino, where he continued to work on both painting and writing. His painting evolved very little, remaining far removed from the novelties imposed at court or those he would later discover in Italy. Although his brushstrokes are loose and reflect a great freedom of touch, the most successful aspect of his work is the great severity of the figures in his monastic cycles. To this must be added the exceptional portrait of Fray Alonso de San Vítores in the Museo de Burgos.