This triptych is the principal creation and the work that has given the name to an anonymous follower of Rogier van der Weyden, previously identified as Vrancke van der Stockt. The triptych belonged to Leonor de Mascarenhas (1503-1584), a Portuguese lady who moved to Spain in 1526 and was aya to Philip II and afterwards to his son Don Carlos. When in 1564 she founded the convent of Franciscan nuns
On 14 February 1612 Juan Bautista Maíno signed the contract to execute the paintings for the monastery church of San Pedro Mártir in Toledo. Maíno agreed to a period of eight months to make the paintings, which had to portray the scenes and episodes specified by the prior of the monastery. Despite the agreement reached in the contract, the paintings were not completed until De
Juan Francisco Alfonso de Pimentel Ponce de León, 10th Count and 7th Duke of Benavente (1584-1652), is portrayed more than half length with a whole host of attributes that confirm is supreme military rank in the Spanish army. In addition to gentleman-in-waiting to Phillip IV, he was appointed captain general in charge of frontier defense during the Portuguese uprising (1641) and participate
This work´s existence and interest were noticed by Valencian specialist and director of that city´s Museum of Fine Arts, Fernando Benito Domenech. That museum´s Juan de Juanes exhibition in 2000 included this panel and convincingly related it to the Saint Eligius Altarpiece, which the Valencian Silversmiths´ Guild had commissioned for the church of Santa Catalina in 1534. That contract called for
Amalia de Solms-Braunfels (1602-1675) was the wife of Federico Enrique de Nassau (1584-1647), Prince of Orange, also painted by Van Dyck (P01482). As first lady of the House of Nassau, she wears an elegant black dress with a French collar. Its large décolletage is decorated with two rows of a pearl necklace and a short necklace. The broach on her bosom, the ring and pearl bracelets complete this i
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
Christ´s dead body is taken off the Cross by Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and Saint John the Evangelist. Among the people at his feet are the Virgin Mary, the mother of Joseph —also called Mary— as well as Salomé and Mary Magdalene, who raises her arms as a sign of her suffering. The good and bad thieves are crucified on trees. This scene follows the New Testament story of the Jesus´ desc
The event is set in a gothic temple, alluding to the New Law that replaces the old one, represented by the Romanesque tower in the background. The sculptures on the outside of the church and on the tower and Bible passages in the stained-glass windows reinforce this idea, and that of the Redemption. That is the case of Moses and David, or the sacrifice of Isaac´s, which foreshadows that of Christ.
Margaret of Austria married Philip III in 1599 after Philip II chose her from among the women of the Austria-Styria family. The marriage was planned to coincide with that of infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia and archduke Albert. Margaret was born in 1584 and when she arrived in Spain in April 1599, she had already been married by power of attorney in Ferrara. She was known for her discretion and virtue
La obra representa a Pedro de Medici (1554-1604), hijo de Cosme I que mantuvo estrechos vínculos con España, estando presente en Madrid durante los reinados de Felipe II y Felipe III. La identificación del personaje parece confirmarse por el enorme parecido del retratado en la obra del Museo del Prado con el que de don Pedro conserva la Galería de los Uffizi, debido a Santi de Tito y fechado entre
Two scenes are represented in this work. On the left, in a circular, Romanesque interior covered with a dome, is the Miracle of the flowering Rod, which designated Joseph as the man to marry Mary. In the building´s stained-glass windows, capitals and tympana are scenes from the Old Testament that foreshadow or announce others from the New Testament, such as the sacrifice of Isaac, which prefigures
This panel depicts a miracle of Saint Anthony: the conversion of a heretic when he realised that a hungry mule refrained from eating a basket of barley with a consecrated Host on it. Sculpture is used to characterise the different buildings in the urban setting in which the episode takes place, with saints on churches and kings on the town hall.
Margaret, who married Philip III in 1599, was the daughter of the Archduke of Bavaria. In this portrait by Pantoja de la Cruz -the most representative painter of the reign- she wears the so-called “Rich jewel”, a dynastic heirloom comprising the diamond known as “El estanque” (The Pool) and the famous large pearl known as “La peregrina” (The Pilgrim).
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
Cardinal Fernando de’ Medici gave this canvas to the Minorite seminary of San Francisco de Paula, the saint who kneels in the foreground. The seminary, in Alcalá de Henares, was founded by the influential wife of Bartolomé de Santoyo, Keeper of the King’s Jewels and Royal Secretary. The canvas reflects the new style developed by the painter Santi di Tito in Florence from 1575 onwards
On 13 July 1558, Philip II asked Titian to make haste with the completion of an Agony in the Garden which the artist had agreed to finish one year earlier, but which was only sent to the monarch in 1562 along with The Rape of Europa. Titian sent the king another painting of the same subject, probably in 1563, and Philip sent both to the Escorial where the second is still to be found. While the two
At the German Imperial court, into which Queen Margaret of Austria (1584-1611) was born, portraits of royalty were often included in religious scenes; these paintings were known in Spanish as portraits “a lo divino”. This canvas, which was commissioned by the queen herself, shows three of her sisters, together with their mother, the Duchess of Styria.
Considered a copy of a portrait by El Greco, the more detailed technique deployed here lacks the loose boldness of his brushstroke but the composition and some of the elements within it remain close to his approach. El Greco would have known the sitter (1529-1600), a celebrated jurist and a member of the Councils of Castile and of Finance.