First Spanish edition of the Cartilla or drawing manual by José de Ribera; of the utmost rarity, only four institutional copies known. Ribera (1591-1652) was the first Spanish painter to publish prints for the instruction of beginners and he was clearly interested in making his ideas accessible to other artists. His outstanding technical abilities in the use of pen, ink and chalk and the originality of subject matter made him an influential model.
Extremely rare, only four institutional copies known: Museo del Prado; Biblioteca Nacional Madrid; University of Barcelona; National Art Library (Victoria and Albert Museum). To this, we can add a copy at the Hispanic Society of America.
Ribera’s prints enjoyed a wide circulation during his lifetime, which was further increased by the anonymous etched and engraved copies they inspired. More important in spreading his ideas were the folios of engravings containing from 10 to 24 pages that reproduced Ribera’s prints. The first folio of such copies was engraved by Louis Ferdinand, a French painter and engraver (1612-1689) which were published in Paris in 1650 by both Pierre Mariette and Nicolas Langlois under the title Livre de portraiture receuilly des oeuvres de Ioseph Ribera dit L’Espagnolet. It was not until the 18th century that this first Spanish version of Ribera’s “Cartilla” or drawing manual was published.
This Spanish version, possibly based on the earlier French editions by Ferdinand, was engraved by Juan Barcelón y Abellán (1739-1801), a painter and engraver born in Lorca, Murcia. He studied drawing with the sculptor Salcillo and moved to Madrid in 1759 to study in the Real Academia de San Fernando with Palomino in Madrid. In 1777 he was named Académico de Mérito, the highest distinction granted by the Real Academia. An outstanding engraver he participated in the most important publications of the period, including the Antigüedades árabes de España, Retratos de los españoles ilustres, and the Ibarra Quijote, (1780, Real Academia Española).
The ‘cartilla’, as advertised on the title page, could be purchased in the Real Calcografia which was part of the Royal Academy of San Fernando. The work, as Pérez Sánchez remarks, “tuvo un éxito considerable’ (p.71). It is now, however, extremely scarce and it is thus all the more remarkable to find a copy such as this, which is in a pristine state as if it had been bought at the premises.
Ribera’s skill as a draughtsman and engraver has been the focus of increasing interest in the last 40 years with exhibitions devoted to this aspect of his work at the Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundación Caja de Pensiones Valencia and the Calcografía Nacional, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in 1989, and the Prado Museum: Ribera. Master of Drawing in 2016-2017.
Provenance: Libreria Blazquez, Madrid; offered with a Spanish export license.
Palau, 46479; Paez (Repertorio) 209, nº 3; Jonathan Brown, 36; Brown, Jonathan, Jusepe de Ribera, Grabador 1591 – 1652, Madrid: Calcografía Nacional, 1989; Cortés, Valerià, Anatomía, academia y dibujo clásico, Madrid: Cátedra, 1994; Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E., Historia del dibujo en España, Madrid: Cátedra, 1986
