"The Resurrection" and "The Adoration of the Magi"
Anonymous from Castile, Spain. First third of the 16th century.
Pair of oil on panel.
Size: 114,5 x 84 cm.
Size with frame: 148,5 x 99 cm.
The panel of the Resurrection, which comes from the same set as the Adoration of the Magi, has notable quality and classicism. The scene has been conceived using a rigorous axis of symmetry personified by the triumphant figure of Christ and the long tomb behind him. From then on, the anonymous painter has cleverly distributed the characters on both sides. Thus, the soldier lying down leaning on a kind of tree stump and with the stone at his side is echoed on the opposite side by a soldier sitting in a precarious position on a small staircase and carrying a spear and a shield. Above both characters we also see how they contrast and complement the golden landscape of Calvary, with the naked cross of Christ and the two thieves still on theirs, with the landscape on the right made of small clumps of forest and a fairly low, misty mountain. It is a soft landscape that fits seamlessly into the composition.
The Risen Christ is wrapped, mostly on his back and left arm, in a red tunic which takes the form of a vesica piscis, and wears a white loincloth gathered at the crotch. The figure of Christ is elegant and has an attitude that denotes decision and restrained power. His body, in a serpentine shape, is moving forward, a movement determined by the classic contrapposto arrangement of the legs – the right being placed behind. In his left hand he elegantly holds the symbolic banner of the Resurrection, while he raises his right hand towards the sky with his fingers arranged in an act of blessing. The anatomy of Christ is correctly modelled, though not with extreme detail. It is surprising that of the five stigmata, only the wound on the side is visible and rather indistinctly.
Between both soldiers there is a clear difference, and not only because of their physiques, attitudes, facial features or the postures that they adopt, but also because, while one been dressed in clothes more or less from the time the panel was painted, the other wears a type of armour that was thought to be worn in the period in which the sacred event took place. The panel already shows a clear Renaissance lexicon, such as the correct management of perspective, which the painter has achieved by placing some stones in the foreground with the tomb then being foreshortened, with its lines converging in the background. It is precisely in the choice of Christ’s strange tomb, a kind of inverted semi-circular tombstone closed by a flat, undecorated, rectangular slab, and in the armour of the soldier located on the left, armed with a spear and a cropped, leather-shaped shield, that a certain archaeological bent on the part of the painter can be perceived. The thoroughness with which he has captured both landscapes, especially that of the misty mountains, is interesting.
This delicate panel, in which there is a clear predominance of line over colour, applied in soft brushstrokes, achieving appropriate colour gradation to provide chiaroscuro effects, would have been made by a Castilian master from the first third of the 16th century.
The panel of the Adoration of the Magi, which comes from the same group as that of the Resurrection, presents a composition which was very recurrent since the Gothic, as we can see in numerous Flemish, Spanish or Italian panels. The Virgin is seated and holding the Child, in turn serving as his “throne”. Saint Joseph is absent from the composition. At their side, and forming almost the same group as the Virgin and Child, we find the three Magi arranged in different attitudes, and as usual, one of them is kneeling offering his present. On this occasion, due to his beard and grey hair, it is Melchior who offers the Child a luxurious cup containing gold, while Caspar will give him frankincense and Balthasar myrrh. The composition is developed within a classicist architecture in which a landscape has been painted in the background to the right to develop depth and perspective, also helping to achieve the optical interplay with the two-tone floor tiles.
The Virgin Mary has a rounded shape. She wears a tunic and a blue cloak as well as a white veil which covers most of her hair, which is tied at chest height. In both hands and on her lap she holds an amiable Christ Child. The Child is rather stylised and placed in a rather odd and unstable position in which he stretches out one of his legs in order to stroke King Melchior. His body is covered with a cloth which hides most of his nakedness.
To the right are the three Wise Men. To avoid monotony in the composition, the painter has shown the three characters in different postures. Thus, we have, as we already mentioned, Melchior kneeling, in profile and wearing luxurious clothes: a greyish tunic and reddish cloak. In front of him, with his back to the viewer, is Balthasar, who is standing and offering a gilded box decorated with grottos. He is the most interesting figure due to the extremely sumptuous clothing he is wearing (a doublet covered with an orange overcoat, galligaskins and white footwear), his unusual headgear, the sword which hangs from his belt and the horn which is held on his back by some chains. Finally, there is Caspar, who shyly moves towards the Christ Child with a gilded shine in which he carries his present, the myrrh. He has a stylised figure which sticks out in front of a hollow pilaster that is behind him. He wears a wide tunic covered in curved folds. He is bearded with brown hair which bestows him with great personality.
As with the other panel, we find a predominance of line over colour, although on this occasion the rich and varied colours that the painter has skilfully displayed and combined are striking: with powerful greens, oranges, reds and blues being cleverly graduated. The characters have oval faces, with tiny eyes and mouths, sharp noses and stylised hands. The painting must be the work of an interesting Castilian painter who developed his career during the first third of the 16th century.
We would like to thank Javier Baladrón, doctor in History of Art, for cataloguing this piece;