Francesc Ribalta

Francesc Ribalta (1565–1628), also known as Francisco Ribalta, was born in Solsona, in the province of Lleida, and may have served his first apprenticeship with Navarrete, who worked for years at the Escorial. His earliest known work, a Crucifixion of 1582, was signed in Madrid, and he later settled in Valencia, where he died in 1628. He painted mostly religious subjects and was among the first painters in Spain to follow the austere tenebrism of Caravaggio, though it is unclear whether he ever went to Italy. The tenebrist manner went on to influence Zurbarán, and also Velázquez and Murillo. His son Juan Ribalta was among his pupils, and Jusepe de Ribera is said to have been another. The National Gallery in London holds his Vision of Father Francisco Jerónimo Simón. Here: Christ Embracing St. Bernard from the Cross, a late work of around 1625.