2 - Late 16th-century Spanish school

Late 16th-century Spanish school Ecce Homo, or Christ with the Reed Oil on panel Dimensions: 79 × 51.5 cm (artwork) · 101 × 76 cm (overall) Our striking *Ecce Homo*, created by an artist influenced by Alonso Berruguete and Luis de Morales, is a characteristic example of the mystical and doloristic aesthetic of religious painting that was in vogue beginning with the reign of Philip II (1556–1598). While the facial features of this Christ borrow more heavily from Alonso Berruguete (1490–1561), the great chromatic restraint—the stark black-and-gray background and the gray flesh tones suggesting the approach of death—bear witness to the impact of Luis de Morales’s (1509/1519–1586) work on several generations of Iberian painters. Active in Badajoz, in Extremadura (southwestern Spain), for nearly four decades, Morales produced an extensive body of work, the influence of which is evident in this piece. First, he fulfilled commissions for churches, including the Badajoz Cathedral, the Monastery of Santo Domingo in Évora (Portugal), and the parish church of Arroyo de la Luz, among others. ; secondly, for private individuals who visited the workshop and commissioned reproductions of these devotional works, which quickly became his specialty. Morales worked quickly: in 1548, several artists and colleagues noted that he could complete a painting in two days. During the 1550s and 1560s, Badajoz saw a succession of eminent men of the Church at the head of the diocese. Francisco de Navarra, bishop from 1545 to 1556, had studied in Toulouse and Paris and attended the first session of the Council of Trent. His successor, Cristóbal Sandoval y Rojas, was one of the most important church leaders of his time. He participated in the second session of the council and, upon his arrival in Badajoz, implemented the new guidelines of the faith. Sandoval particularly encouraged spiritual renewal through personal devotion that engaged the emotions, following the model proposed by Loyola in his “Spiritual Exercises.” He thus gave rise to a local variant of mystical practice known as “Illuminism.” This renewal of religious fervor was fostered by the next bishop, Juan de Ribera, who held the episcopal see from 1562 to 1569. Ribera, the illegitimate son of a Sevillian nobleman, the Duke of Alcalá, was a man of great culture and intense faith who maintained close ties with the mystical writers Saint John of Avila and Fray Luis of Granada. The fervor inspired by Sandoval and Ribera found in Morales a faithful and committed interpreter. No Spanish painter ever surpassed Morales in expressing the personal and passionate faith of the mystical writers. It is possible that his actual isolation from new stylistic trends led him to deepen his religious faith, giving him the freedom to develop this highly personal style, far from the allure of novelty. Little is known about the origins of Morales’s highly individual style: his manner of depicting the human figure—extremely emaciated, with flesh that appears almost lifeless, and shadows rendered with a radical sfumato—bears no resemblance to the tradition of early 16th-century central Italy; it is much closer to the Flemish painting of that period, a fact that supports the hypothesis that Morales learned to paint in Seville while studying with Pieter de Kempeneer (also known as Pedro de Campaña (1503–1587)). The influence of Morales’s style is well documented: his clients in Seville are known; his paintings were also acquired by prominent figures in Toledo, where he might have had contact with Alonso Berruguete had he traveled there. It is even possible that he spent some time in Naples during his youth, a city characterized by the incredible stylistic diversity of its local artists. Morales never altered the perfect formula he had developed to convey the religious passions that briefly energized this isolated corner of Spain. Our painting, a hybrid work by a talented painter yet to be identified, serves as a reminder of just how deeply “Il Divino de Badajoz” (Morales’s nickname) was involved in the religious life of the most mystical of 16th-century Christian nations. Dimensions: 79 × 51.5 cm (artwork) · 101 × 76 cm (overall)