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Jerónimo Vich y Valterra (1459-1535) was Spain’s ambassador to Rome between 1506 and 1521, under the reigns of Ferdinand the Catholic and Charles V. Vich commissioned Sebastiano del Piombo to paint a triptych whose central panel with the Lamentation over the Body of Christ is now at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. One of its sides bears Christ’s Descent into Limbo and is also at t
This panel was part of the Saint Eligius Altarpiece located in the chapel of the silversmiths’ guild in the church of Santa Catalina, Valencia. The altarpiece was commissioned from Juan de Juanes, who collaborated on its creation with his father, Vicente Macip. The present panel reflects an interesting transitional moment in the painting of both masters, with elements derived from both Sebastiano
The first known reference to this painting from the Spanish Royal Collection dates from 1700, when it was mentioned as being in the Alcázar, Madrid, along with another painting by Luca Giordano, Mater Dolorosa, now lost. It is in magnificent condition, and was restored in 2007.The powerful foreground shows Christ, rope around his neck, painfully carrying the cross. The general tone evokes t
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
Large-format versions of the Virgin holding the dead body of Christ, like those at Badajoz Cathedral and at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, gave way in Morales’s oeuvre to smaller compositions on the same subject, with half-length figures shown on a striking background of rigorous black. Against this, the two figures and the upright of the cross are contrasted with strong lighti
Piombo was the Italian painter most in demand by Spanish clients during the first half of the sixteenth century. Fernando de Silva, Count of Cifuentes and ambassador to Rome from 1533 to 1536, commissioned him to paint Christ carrying the Cross, which is now at the Hermitage Museum and is extraordinarily similar to the present work. The Prado´s work is less dramatic, in part because here, Christ i
The presence in Valencia in 1521 of several works by Sebastiano del Piombo, acquired by the diplomat Jerónimo Vich, inspired various generations of local artists. In this oil on panel recently attributed to Ribalta, the artist adapted the figure of the Magdalene from one of those compositions, The Lamentation over the dead Christ, now in Saint Petersburg. As he dispensed with the other figu
Masip depicts this fourth-century Roman saint´s second martyrdom, when, after having been condemned to be burned at the stake, the flames miraculously failed to touch her body and she was finally condemned to die by beheading. The logs, still burning and smoking, appear at the martyr´s feet. The lamb she holds in her arms symbolizes her virginity at the moment of her death, which was r
A slightly more than half-length image of Jesus wearing a red tunic and blue robes. Holding the cross with both hands, he rests it on his left shoulder. His head is slightly raised and his watery eyes bear a serene, resigned expression as he looks to the heavens. The crown of thorns on his head is reinforced by a luminous rhomboidal halo. The precisely rendered crown shows each of the tender, inte
The work reproduces a prototype by Sebastiano del Piombo that had to have some success in the 16th century, as witnessed by another version very close to this one kept in the Galleria Borghese in Rome (inv. 179, oil on panel, 59 x 43 cm), where it is cataloged as in the style of Luis de Morales.
When Charles V retired to Yuste, he took with him a panel by Coxcie as a pair to a Mater dolorosa by Titian. This may be that work. The Emperor’s choice indicates the prestige that Coxcie enjoyed during his lifetime due to his Italianate style. Here his treatment of the subject is comparable to that of Sebastiano del Piombo.
Wearing a white tunic and bearing the standard of victory, Christ leans toward Adam and Eve who, nude, hope to be rescued from Limbo and taken to the Kingdom of Heaven. This passage appears in the Apocrypha, specifically in the Gospel of Nicodemus, which tells of the Resurrection of Christ. The painting's composition reveals two fundamental influences: Michelangelo, in the monumentality of the fig
Large-format versions of the Virgin holding the dead body of Christ, like those at Badajoz Cathedral and at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, gave way in Morales’s oeuvre to smaller compositions on the same subject, with half-length figures shown on a striking background of rigorous black. Against this, the two figures and the upright of the cross are contrasted with strong lighti
Michel Hochmann identified the painting in the Capodimonte as the ‘Quadretto corniciato di pero tinto con un ritratto di un giovane, in pietra di Genova, di mano del medesimo [Daniele]’ refered to in the 1600 inventory of the possessions of the antiquarian Fulvio Orsini (1529–1600). The artist referred to is Daniele Ricciarelli, known as Daniele da Volterra, and the attribution of the work seems s
Although we do not know when Titian first treated this subject, it was probably in 1535, when he painted a Christ for Federico Gonzaga following a model provided by the duke. The earliest surviving Ecce Homo is the one he did for Charles V and in which one detects his attempt to distance himself from the usual iconic impression of these images which are typically frontal and bust length. Instead,
The original work was commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de Medici in 1516 for the cathedral of Narbonne. The Prelate also commissioned Sebastiano del Piombo to paint a Resurrection of Lazarus for the same location, which led to competition between the two artists. Giulio kept Raphael´s work and commissioned Giovanni Francesco Penni to make a copy, which he took to Naples. The Transfiguration is Raph
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
This is one of Ribalta’s most beautiful compositions within his late output. The figure of Christ is adapted from the model devised by Sebastiano del Piombo in his Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Saint Petersburg, Hermitage), a work Ribalta copied on two occasions. The powerful body, facial features and expression, as well as the sense of light, are all indebted to Sebastiano.
