Spanish school, attributed to Sebastián de Llanos y Valdés (ca. 1605-1677): 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 on, 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 C.

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. no. RF 1955-24 (link).

Condition: (UV-checked)

- The painting in good and hangable condition.

- Relined, most probably due to a tear in the left top corner.

- Some retocuhes here and there (especially borders, background, etc.).

- Face without overpaint.