LUIS DE VARGAS (Sevilla, h. 1505 - 1567)

Descent from the Cross Oil on panel 102 x 85 cm The present work is typical of the Sevillian school of the mid-16th century and can clearly be considered the work of the painter Luis de Vargas (1503 - 1568), who painted it around 1565. Vargas spent a large part of his life in Italy before returning to Seville in 1553, which allowed him to acquire a solid artistic training in a classicist spirit within the circle of Raphael's followers. This painting of the Descent from the Cross clearly corresponds to this artist's Sevillian period, which lasted fifteen years during which he produced important paintings, especially in Seville cathedral and also in the church of Santa María la Blanca. In the latter church, Vargas painted around 1564-65 an altarpiece with the theme of the Pietà, with which our work is closely linked stylistically. The composition of this panel is partially taken from an engraving by Marco Antonio Raimondi, who made several versions of this theme, which inspired all the followers of Raphael in Rome, including Vargas himself. The composition of the work in question has a marked pyramidal rhythm which includes, from top to bottom, all the protagonists of this dramatic episode, from the two male saints, Arimathea and Nicodemus, who descend the body of Christ in the upper part, to the group of the Virgin, St. John and the three Mary's, who wait in a sorrowful attitude in the lower part. In order to analyse this Descent from the Cross, it is also appropriate to compare it with the panel of Calvary signed by Vargas and also executed around 1555, which is kept in the cathedral of Seville. In this painting, the anatomical expressions of the figure of Christ on the cross, as well as the gestures of the Virgin and Saint John, show a repertoire of attitudes that fully coincide with those that appear in this Descent from the Cross. Attached is a certificate issued by Enrique Valdivieso González, Professor of Art History at the University of Seville.