Saint Judas Thaddaeus

Saint Judas Thaddaeus by Ribera, at the Prado, continues the apostle series with another individualized portrait-like treatment of one of Christ's original twelve disciples. Judas Thaddaeus — not to be confused with Judas Iscariot — was traditionally depicted with his attribute of a club or halberd, the instrument of his martyrdom by clubbing in Persia. Ribera painted his saints with unflinching naturalism rooted in his early study of Caravaggio's Rome before settling in Naples in 1616. Working under Spanish viceregal patronage, he produced devotional images combining brutal physical realism with profound spiritual intensity, and his apostle series created an unprecedented gallery of individualized sacred portraits that gave Spanish collectors images of the church's founders rendered with the directness of contemporary portraiture.

The apostle's face is rendered with the creased, weatherbeaten specificity that Ribera applied to all his saints. The strong single-source lighting creates deep shadows in the eye sockets and beneath the nose, giving the face a powerful three-dimensional presence.