작품 상세

Historicist School. Possibly Spanish. Early 19th century. '1741: Arrest of the holy Dominican bishop Sanz y Jordá and four fellow friars by the Chinese imperial authorities, prior to their martyrdom' Oil on canvas. 62 x 86 cm. A beautiful and detailed depiction of the moment in which the Chinese imperial authorities arrest this holy Dominican bishop and his companions in the year 1741. Very probably a Dominican commission intended to be housed in a house of the Order and, through contemplation, to inspire devotion: to be sent to preach wherever necessary, in defence of the faith, despite possible tribulations. Pedro José Sanz y Jordá, O.P., or Saint Peter the Martyr (Ascó, Tarragona, 1680 – Fuzhou, China, 1747), was a Catalan priest of the Dominican Order, sent as a missionary to China. In 1698 he professed vows in the Order of Preachers in Lleida and was ordained a priest in 1704. After working in Zaragoza, Sanz volunteered for the missions and was accepted for China. In 1713 he arrived in the Philippines, where he spent two years studying the Chinese language. From there he departed for China with a small group of friars, carrying out an extensive ministry that lasted more than thirty years. Consecrated as a bishop in 1730, with the titular see of Mauricastro, he worked tirelessly and never ceased preaching.   In 1741, the year in which our work is set, he was arrested together with four friars. They suffered torture and a long imprisonment in Fuzhou. There he was beheaded in 1747. One year later his four companions, the holy Dominican missionaries Serrano, Díaz, Alcober and Royo, were executed, after being subjected to brutal interrogations, torture and inhuman prison conditions, weighed down with chains and shackles. He was declared a martyr and canonised by the Catholic Church in the year 2000 by Saint John Paul II. Our work presents, as if it were a photographic capture, the recreation of this great religious historical event, not only for the Dominican Order but for the entire Church, with the martyrdom of a group of its faithful. With a tone of idealisation, serenity, hope, trust, mystical gazes raised in prayer to heaven and acceptance of the divine will at the moment of arrest, and moving into Romanticism, it follows the canons of academic painting of the period.   At the centre stands Bishop Sanz y Jordá, looking towards heaven and praying, from which he draws his strength and profound faith. At his immediate sides are Fathers Serrano, Díaz, Alcober and Royo, bearing the chains they wore, the canes with which they were tortured, and the swords of torture and martyrdom. Also present in the scene are Chinese imperial dignitaries, some looking up to heaven, others conversing among themselves, commenting on the horror of what they witness or mocking the condemned. There are also Chinese Christian faithful who follow their teachings. A clean golden background of paradise, in a soft yellow, speaks of light, of God and of the luminous hope that surrounds them. Just above the gathered figures, dark and dense clouds loom, signalling the dreadful moment that approaches. Faces display the different attitudes towards such a tragic event. Perfect brushstrokes, executed with great virtuosity and close attention to detail, recreate the event with maximum fidelity, with a highly structured composition and a large horizontal format, typical of academic painting of the period. Colonial Spanish America.