This New Testament scene depicts the Descent from the Cross of Christ´s body (Matthew 28, 57-61; Mark 15, 42-47; Luke 23, 50-55; John 19, 38-42). Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and Saint John the Evangelist remove the nails and take down the Holy Body, while Mary Magdalene laments at his feet and the Virgin is consoled by other holy women. This is considered one of Correa´s finest works. The balan
Since the moment when it was decided that the present work is by Raphael but that the sitter is not Antonio Granvela, art historians have expended considerable efforts on identifying the sitter.The most credible candidates would seem to be Cardinal Bendinello Suardi (painted by Del Piombo,Washington, National Gallery of Art), and even more probably Cardinal Giovanni Alidosi (depicted on a medal an
This triptych makes use of a traditional compositional scheme and iconography, with the principal scene in the central panel. However, the volumetric treatment of the figures reflects new Italian influences. This innovatory approach is also evident in the architectural background to the Holy Family, in which the habitual Gothic tracery is replaced by elements characteristic of of the new Mannerist
Christ returned to life, triumphant alongside the sarcophagus that held his body for three days after his death on Golgotha, was a frequent subject in Correa´s work. The retable for the convent of the Poor Clares in Griñon (Madrid), dated around 1532-1534, shaped its essential compositional structure, with Christ at the center over a stone staircase bearing the sarcophagus and flanked by so
In 1954 this work, then in the Adanero Collection, was published by Angulo Íñiguez who unhesitatingly attributed it to Yáñez de la Almedina, or at least, his workshop. This attribution was accepted by Garín Ortiz de Taranco in the second edition of his book on Yáñez (1978), with added mention of its thematic ties to an altarpiece also attributed to
Vicente Carducho is a paradigmatic figure in Spanish painting from the early decades of the seventeenth century, a period of transition from the Tuscan-Roman mannerism to so-called early naturalism. In this context, the works of Carducho, who trained in the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial together with his brother, Bartolomé, may be seen as prolonging the Tuscan traditions in their
Christ is presented as the Savior of the World, blessing humankind, between Saint John and the Virgin, who turn towards him. The three figures are shown three-quarters under arches with a complex gothic tracery. In the center is a circular skylight with a singing angel leaning out. This is a free copy of the same figures in the polyptych of the Mystic Lamb by Jan and Hubert van Eyck from the Cathe
This painting is Jacopo´s first depiction of the passage from Genesis 6:20 and the only one in which the theme is treated separately rather than as part of a series depicting the story of Noah. Jacopo respected the biblical tale in terms of the number of people who were saved -Noah, his wife, and his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, with their wives- but took liberties with the animals. In some c
Seeing the cadaver of Empress Isabel of Portugal, the wife of Carlos V, has a profound effect on Francisco de Borja, Duke of Gandía, who almost collapses in front of one of his knights. The melodramatic vision with which the painter approaches this work is reinforced by the expressions of the other characters, such as the horrified boy, who may be seeing his first dead person, or the heartb
This triptych makes use of a traditional compositional scheme and iconography, with the principal scene in the central panel. However, the volumetric treatment of the figures reflects new Italian influences. This innovatory approach is also evident in the architectural background to the Holy Family, in which the habitual Gothic tracery is replaced by elements characteristic of of the new Mannerist
This portrait commemorates Charles V’s victory over the Schmalkaldic League at Mühlberg on 24 April 1547. The Emperor is equipped in the manner of the light cavalry with a half pike and wheel-lock pistol. His suit of armour was made around 1545 by Desiderius Helmschmid and has an image of the Virgin and Child on the breastplate, as was customary with Charles’ armour from 1531. Panofsky pointe
The first verified Spanish documentation of Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist or Madonna of the Rose, c. 1517, dates from 1657. In 1642 Wenceslaus Hollar engraved this composition after a painting belonging to Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, one of the present work’s probable owners. However, there were copies of the work in Spain in the sixteenth century, including no less t
Christ’s prayer on the Mount of Olives is the gospel episode that precedes his arrest and the beginning of his Passion and death on the cross. After the last supper with his disciples, Jesus withdraws with three of them, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, to the nearby garden of Gethsemane. According to St Luke’s Gospel, he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled
Con la adquisición en 2008 de la tabla Sagrada Familia con ángel músico (P08009), el Museo del Prado completa el tríptico del Maestro de Francfort, que perteneció al convento dominico de Santa Cruz de Segovia, del que ya poseía las dos tablas laterales (P01941 y P01942). Cuando Ponz visitó este convento en la década de 1770, sus tres tablas aún no se habían separado. En mayo de 1836, cuando Castel
The author of this work has been identified as the painter of an Adoration of the Magi signed, apocryphally, Hericus Blesius Fecit (Munich, Alte Pinakothek). The Museo del Prado’s work presents the same subject on its central panel, while the lateral panels present Old-Testament scenes with King David and King Solomon. These two are considered prefigurations of Christ, which must have been the tri
This is one of the Spanish Renaissance’s most emblematic depictions of a female figure and the best known of Yáñez de la Almedina’s works. Both considerations are due to the visibility this work has received at the Museo del Prado, where it has been one of the essential icons in its galleries of 16th-century Spanish painting ever since it arrived in 1946. According to Jacopo de la Vo
Two banderoles, one above and the other below the central circle, contain Latin texts from Deuteronomy (32: 28-29 and 20), warning against the wages of sin. The upper banderole, between the tondos of Death and the Last Judgment, reads: Gens absq[ue] [con]silio e[st] et sine prudentia // deutro[m]y 32 [um//] utina[m] sapere[n]t [et] i[n]telligere[n]t ac novissi[m]a p[ro]videre[n]t (For they are a n
This more-than-half-length portrait presents a boy dressed in black with a white shirt. He rests his left hand on his waist while holding his gloves in his right. A gold chain around his neck is matched by another at his waist that bears a sword with a gilded hilt. It has been suggested that this panel may represent François, Duke of Alençon (b. 1554, d. 1584), son of Henri II of Fra