Spanish school, attributed to Sebastián de Llanos y Valdés (1605-?): The head of Saint Paul, oil on canvas, 17th C.

Work: 78 x 60,5 cm

Frame: 101,5 x 86 cm

The oeuvre of Sebastián de Llanos y Valdés (Sevilla) consists almost entirely of religious imagery and, from the 1660s and 1670s, he painted several severed heads of martyr saints, a traditional painting genre (especially for Sevillian artists), that can be traced back to Spanish sculpture from the last quarter of the 16th century.

A similar version was sold at Sotheby's, London, 16 Juli 2014, lot 9 (link).

Another comparison can be made with the signed and dated (1675) 'Head of a beheaded Saint Martyr', Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. nr. RF 1955-24 (link).

Provenance: Private collection, Brussels.