Bartolomé Bermejo

“We do not know when he was born, educated or died. We don't know whether he ever travelled outside Spain. We do not know with which masters he trained. We do not know of any prince, prelate or lord who protected him; we do not know if he had a patron. We know virtually nothing; we do not know anything...”.

Despite the years that have passed since 1926, when Elias Tormo wrote these words in the first monograph devoted to our painter, and despite the most outstanding contributions made in the meantime by many historians, and in particular Eric Young and Judith Berg—the authors of two key studies—we have to admit that today we still know little, all too little, about Bartolomé de Cárdenas, also known as Bermejo (ca. 1440-1501). Although the catalogue published for the monographic exhibition at the Museo Nacional de Prado contains noteworthy documentary evidence on his career and new ideas about his compositional and iconographic models, which open up interesting and unexplored interpretative perspectives, we are still unable to answer many of the questions posed by the Valencian historian almost a century ago.

This international congress seeks to encourage input and debate on issues that will offer a deeper insight into Bermejo’s artistic persona. To do so, it will tackle areas including the following: aspects related to his training and remarkable mastery of the traditional Flemish oil technique; the consequences of his associations with other masters; his unquestionable capacity for innovation in the field of religious iconography; the strong character of some of those who commissioned work from him and his preference for certain motifs and elements in his paintings. In short, the encounter takes a multidisciplinary and critical approach which seeks to move forward in our knowledge of one of the most talented and extraordinary painters of the fifteenth century.