Pentecost
Ca. 1769. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
While this work has traditionally been identified as one of the sketches that Francisco Bayeu made for the lost compositions he painted in 1796 for the cloister of the convent of San Pascual in Aranjuez (Annunciation, Nativity, Ascension and Pentecost), that identification is actually erroneous, as Morales y Marín discovered in his two studies of that artist (1979 and 1995). After studying the iconographic program of Aranjuez Palace´s public Royal Chapel, he realized that the definitive versions were, in fact, there.
The present painting was acquired by queen Elizabeth II from Julián Maria Piñera by Royal Order of September 1, 1842, which states: "numbers 2748 to 2762, inclusive, were purchased by H. M. from Julián Maria Piñera in accordance with the order of September 1, 1842, following payment for them of 10,000 R.s of fleece" (inventory of 1843-1857). Other sketches also by Francisco Bayeu were also acquired, following a purchase offer that read: "one [sketch] of the large oil painting that existed in the royal chapel at Aranjuez and was tragically destroyed, or disappeared, when the French invaded in 1808, and was of the arrival of the Holy Ghost over the apostles."
Moreover, the present work differs in dimensions and proportions from the other known sketches for San Pascual in Aranjuez. There is a drawing of the Virgin´s figure that differs from the sketch only in the position of her hands (D03230), as well as another drawing at the Prado of an apostle´s figure that is preparatory for this sketch (D00353).
