Jerónimo Jacinto de Espinosa


Jerónimo Jacinto de Espinosa was a Spanish Baroque painter. His father was the well known painter, Jerónimo Rodriguez de Espinosa, who had relocated to that area and gotten married there in 1596. He was the third child, of six. His family returned to Valencia in 1612.

Life and work

He began his artistic training in his father's workshop, where he produced a precocious painting pf John the Baptist, showing the influence of Francesc Ribalta. At the age of seventeen he enrolled in the newly created Colegio de Pintores, In 1622, he married Jerònima de Castro, the daughter of a local merchant. The following year, he began a long series of commissions; many of them portraits of the nobility.
In his later years, he was heavily influenced by the works of Pedro Orrente, especially in his religious compositions. Ribalta's influence continued to be apparent, however.
Many of his most notable works were depictions of the Virgin and Child, including an "Our Lady of the Rosary" at the and the "Virgin and Child on a Throne with Angels", now in the Museo del Prado. Portraits of individual saints were another popular subject. All of his works are signed and dated, making it easy to trace his creative development.
Toward the end of his career, he received a series of commissions from the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy. In 1665, he working on the main altar at the church of the capuchins in Massamagrell; parts of which are now conserved at the Museu de Belles Arts de València.
He was interred at the. Several works he had left unfinished were completed by his son, Jerónimo. Among the artists he influenced were Vicente Salvador Gómez, Pablo Pontons, Mateo Gilarte and Gaspar de la Huerta.

Selected works