Attributed to FRANCISCO COMONTES (active in Toledo between 1524-1565).
"Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist, Toledo, 1530-1540.
Oil on panel.
Seventeenth century frame.
Measurements: 29 x 22 cm; 46.5 x 39 cm (frame).
In this work, attributed to Francisco Comontes, the Holy Family is represented following the Renaissance fashion that characterised the painting of the Toledo painter. The Virgin Mary and Child are shown in the centre of the composition, and next to them is an elderly Saint Joseph, who contemplates the little boy (although he is rather relegated to the background). The family is depicted in an interior with drapery that is emphasised by some brighter tones that give a sense of spaciousness. The scene is completed by the figure of Saint John in the lower left-hand corner of the composition, holding the reed cross and gazing tenderly at the Child. This close attitude is used by the artist to inspire and indoctrinate the viewer, thus making him empathise with religion through a scene of a gentle nature. The Saviour and the Baptist are depicted as tender children of delicate beauty and soft anatomy, protected by the maternal figure of Mary, whose face conveys a certain melancholy, knowing the sorrows she will suffer.
Due to its formal characteristics, this work can be attributed to Francisco Comontes, a Spanish Renaissance painter from a family of artists (his father and uncle are documented as painters in the service of Toledo Cathedral), a follower and disciple of Juan de Borgoña. With Burgundy he worked on the painting of the missing altarpieces of the church of Villa del Prado (Madrid). Towards the end of his career he was also influenced by the work of Raphael and the Flemish Mannerists whom he came to know through prints and in relation to Alonso Berruguete, resulting in a Mannerist style of painting close to that of Juan de Soreda. It is known that in 1524 he was commissioned to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of Fernán Núñez in the church of San Vicente in Toledo. In 1533 he executed the altarpiece - not preserved - for the Chapel of the New Kings in the cathedral, for which, according to Ceán Bermúdez, Felipe Vigarny would have provided the traces. There is another documented altarpiece from 1536, the one he painted for Gaspar Hernando with stories of the Birth of the Virgin and Saint Michael. For the series of portraits of the archbishops of Toledo in the Chapterhouse he painted the portraits of Cardinal Tavera and his successor, the archbishop Juan Martínez Silíceo, in 1545 and 1547. According to Ceán Bermúdez, as master of the cathedral he was commissioned to paint the doors of the organ in the archbishop's choir and the panels of an altarpiece dedicated to Saint Bartholomew with the Virgin. Between 1541 and 1552 he was responsible for the most important of his surviving works: the altarpiece of the Hospital de Santa Cruz in Toledo, now in the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes. In the latter year he was also in charge of the altarpiece in the parish church of Mora (Toledo).