ATRIBUIDO A JUAN DE VALDÉS LEAL

(1622 / 1690)

ATTRIBUTED TO JUAN DE VALDÉS LEAL Seville (1622 / 1690) "Juan Federighi in the coffin", 1678

Oil on canvas. The Federighi family of Seville held important positions during the 17th century. Luis Federighi y Canigiani was the first of this lineage to settle in the city, and his son, Luis de Federighi y Fantoni, Knight of Calatrava and Lord of Paterna del Campo, held the positions of Constable and Chief Magistrate of Seville. They were patricians originally from Florence and descendants of Pope Urban VIII. The work shown here, attributed to Juan de Valdés Leal, depicts Juan Federighi on his deathbed. A secret relative, chamberlain, and favorite of Urban VIII, he was a canon and archdeacon of Carmona and held the position of inquisitor of the Holy Office of Seville. Valdés Leal maintained contact with the Federighi family, so it is logical that the portrait shown here was commissioned from the painter. With the patronage of Luis Federighi, Valdés was contracted in November 1659 to paint the altarpieces for the church of San Benito de Calatrava and participated in the founding, in 1660, of the drawing academy in Seville. According to the funeral oration of 1678, written by the Jesuit Pedro Zapata, the mortal remains of Juan Federighi rest in the Chapel of the Virgin of La Antigua in Seville Cathedral, an image to which he professed a special devotion. Dimensions: 68 x 85 cm.