Bartolomé Bermejo, ‘Saint Michael Triumphs over the Devil’ 1468.
Bartolomé Bermejo at the National Gallery ‘Bartolomé Bermejo: Master of the Spanish Renaissance’. The National Gallery in London show a select number of works by Bartolomé Bermejo (c.1440 – c.1501), one of Spain’s most innovative and accomplished painters active in the second half of the 15th century. 12 June – 29 September 2019.]]>
Source: National Gallery of Art, London
Bartolomé de Cárdenas was more commonly known as ‘Bermejo’ – meaning ‘reddish’ in Spanish – probably referring to a distinctive physical feature such as red hair or a ruddy complexion. He was born in Cordoba but was principally active in the Crown of Aragon, working in Tous, Valencia, Daroca, Zaragoza, and Barcelona. He led an itinerant life, partnering with local artists to access painters’ guilds and obtain religious commissions in the cities he visited. Bermejo’s personal circumstances remain enigmatic, and very little is known about his life and early training but it seems likely that he was a converso (a Jew converted to Christianity) and that his nomadic career might be partially explained by the establishment of the Inquisition and persecution of Jews by the religious authorities.
The exhibition includes six loans that have never been seen outside of Spain, including two of Bermejo’s masterpieces: ‘Triptych of the Virgin of Montserrat’ (probably 1470–75), painted for the Italian cloth merchant Francesco della Chiesa, from the Cattedrale Nostra Signora Assunta in Acqui Terme, Alessandria (Italy), and the recently restored ‘Desplà Pietà’ (1490), named after the man who commissioned the work – Lluís Desplà, archdeacon of Barcelona Cathedral, where the painting has been since the 15th century.
In addition, four panels depicting scenes from Christ the Redeemer (‘Descent of Christ into Limbo’ and ‘Resurrection’ from Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), Barcelona; ‘Christ entering Paradise’ and ‘Ascension’ from the Fundació Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic, Barcelona, all about 1470–5) are displayed. At the centre of the exhibition is the National Gallery’s own painting by Bermejo, Saint Michael Triumphant over the Devil with the Donor Antoni Joan (1468). Widely considered the most important early Spanish painting in Britain, it is displayed for the first time following its recent conservation.
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