On Friday 06 March 2026, we had the penultimate session of our course on the Golden Age of Spanish Art. This was a round up of the artists who remained to be investigated before we move on to a Member Contributed series of items which will take place on Friday 20 March 2026.

We started with Jusepe de Ribera whose paintings bear a slight resemblance to those of Caravaggio in their lighting and their sense of drama. Jennifer took us through some of the works of de Ribera which can be seen in the National Gallery in Central London. Many of the paintings concentrated to the penitence of their subjects.

There was no shortage of action and pain depicted, as shown above in The Martyrdom of St Philip, painted in 1639. Some of the works scored in their shock quotient, and in particular the portrait of Magdalena Ventura with Her Husband and Son (1631) raised some eyebrows, and many questions.

We then moved on to Juan de Valdes Leal who had specialised in religious paintings including The Immaculate Conception as well as The Sacrifice of Isaac (above) with an angel stepping in at the last moment.

Our next artist was Bartolome Murillo who had been awarded a commission by the Hospital de la Caridad in Seville to paint Christ’s Seven Acts of Mercy along with de Valdes. All seven were painted, and were believed to have been taken by Napoleon’s Army during the war with Spain. So far only two of the seven have found their way back to their home in Seville. Above is shown Christ healing a Paralytic Man.

There were still many artists to cover, and Jennifer led us through a procession of sculptors including Gregorio Fernandez, Pedro de Mena, Pedro Roldan and Luisa Roldan. Luisa Roldan’s painted sculptures were exceptionally moving and we had an opportunity for a close up view of the two figures Ecce Homo and of Mater Dolorosa (shown above).

Jennifer’s close up view revealed the glass beads that represented the tears and the hair that had been used to create the eyelashes and eyebrows in the sculpture, as shown above..

After a break for teas and coffees, we had our first member contribution. The chosen artist was Joachin Sorolla (1863-1923), who had been strongly influenced by Open Air artists of France. We saw many of his paintings of scenes from real life, showing day to day events in his locality. His paintings were done quickly and often out in the open, and in some ways have a look that might be associated with photography, which was being developed during his lifetime.

We finished with a video of many of his paintings of the seaside and beach at Valencia accompanied by Charles Trenet singing La Mer. If you would like to see the short 3 minute video, please click on the black window below.

Our next and final session in The Golden Age of Spanish Art will take place on Friday 20 March 2026 at 10:00am when members of the u3a will be talking about their favourite Spanish Artists.