PEDRO NUÑEZ DEL VALLE (Madrid, 1597/98 – 1649) “Jael and Sisera” “Judith and her maid Abra with the head of Holofernes” Oil on canvas, a pair, both signed and dated: Po. nuñeβ fat. 1630 88.5 x 108 cm. Provenance: Travesedo collection, Madrid

Pedro Núñez del Valle, who according to Palomino hailed from Madrid, was born around 1590. Regarding his artistic instruction, Lázaro Diez del Valle has him being a disciple of Carducho, even though on another occasion he says he studied painting in Rome. There is no doubt that he stayed in that city, as he is mentioned in the Accademia di San Luca in 1613 and 1614, but in 1623 we find him back in Huesca, where he autographs the San Orencio in the church of San Lorenzo, as “Academicus Romanus”. In 1625, he painted in the cloister of the convent of La Merced in Madrid, alongside van der Hamen, Lanchares and Cajés. He applied unsuccessfully for the position of painter to the king in 1627, although he did nevertheless work for the court. In 1631, he valued the estate of Juan van der Hamen and the Historia de Agamenón (Story of Agamemnon) by Cajés, and in 1633 he produced several paintings for the chapel of San Juan del Buen Retiro, for which he was paid 900 reales. In 1639, he was called upon to collaborate in the ornament of the theatre hall, or Salón de Comedias, at the Royal Alcazar. Although a commission dated 4 September that year required him to paint only one canvas, in August 1642 he was paid 120 ducats for each one of two paintings, one of Henry I and Alphonse IX, and the other of Phillip III and Phillip IV. A significant detail that reveals the esteem in which he was held is that he was commissioned to paint the portraits of the reigning monarch and his father. In 1649, together with Francisco Rizi, he painted and gilded the palace theatre to coincide with the Queen’s birthday. According to Palomino, he died in Madrid around 1654.

The paintings so far known to be by this artist have a major chiaroscuro impact, balanced by the colourist and luminous naturalism of Orazio Gentileschi and the early work of his daughter Artemisia; Caravaggism in all its splendour with an echo of the Bolognese-Roman classicism of Guido Reni.

Fig. 1

Núñez del Valle studied at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome between 1613 and 1614, which is confirmed by documents found at that institution. He must have remained in Italy after that, perhaps working in the studio of Cecco del Caravaggio, to whom his style is greatly indebted. We do not know when he decided to return to Madrid, but in all probability it was before 1623 when he signs, under the moniker Academico romano (Roman academic), the monumental San Orencio in the church of San Lorenzo in Huesca. He may have stopped off in Huesca on his journey home.

He is a painter who synthesised everything he learnt during his stay in the Eternal City, forging a personal style that sets him apart from the other artists who arrived in Madrid

drawn by the Court, and who were still attached to the mannerist tendencies of El Escorial and the modus operandi of the school of Vicente Carducho. He managed to find his way in the Court, working as painter to the King. He received major commissions, such as the ornament in the Salón Grande (Great Hall) in the Alcázar in 1639. In addition, he worked for the clergy and aristocracy in Madrid.

These two hitherto unknown paintings by Núñez del Valle are an important addition to the small catalogue of works that are definitely by the artist, signed one year before the Adoración de los Magos (Adoration of the Magi) in the Prado Museum (a painting influenced by Juan Bautista Maino) and the magnificent canvas with the same subject matter of Jael and Sisera in the National Gallery in Dublin (attributed prior to a recent restoration to Cecco del Caravaggio), with which it maintains numerous stylistic similarities, above all in the sumptuously adorned figures with the same physical features (Fig. 1).

The consistency between the Agar e Ismael in the Casa de la Misericordia in Ávila and these two paintings, as regards the Old Testament setting, size, signature and date, suggests that they were designed as part of the same set (Fig. 2).

These quality paintings by Pedro Núñez del Valle, together with others that have appeared in recent years, have enhanced his status within the panorama of 17th century painting in Madrid, reinstating the prestige he enjoyed at the time, being praised by Lope de Vega in his Laurel de Apolo

Another version of the same theme “Judith” appeared recelntly in the italian market attributed to Juan Bautista Maino and is in all probability a work made by Nunez del Valle (fig. 3).

Fig. 2