Gil de Encinas

GIL DE ENCINAS (Zamora, active in the late fifteenth century-early sixteenth century).
"Saint Bartholomew, Saint Jerome, Saint Sebastian and Saint Catherine".
Set of four paintings on panel.
Work reviewed by Dr. Irune Fiz Fuertes, specialist in Zamora painting of the sixteenth century.
Provenance:
- Pellisson Collection. On a label attached to the frame of the panels, handwritten inscription in blue ink: Mr. George Pelisson.
Each panel has a number that perhaps corresponds to the sales catalog of this collection. All these works belonged to the same large altarpiece of which they undoubtedly constituted the elements of the predella.
Exportable.
They present repainting and treated xylophages. With lack of polychromy and lack in the wood of some of the frames.
Some parts of the frames have been restored. These frames have been executed in gilded wood and have inscriptions in classic letters drawn in sgraffito on the background in gold leaf.
Measurements: 58 x 43 cm; 72 x 52 cm (frame).
This exceptional set of four panels by Gil de Encinas represents each saint standing in front of a low wall decorated with a portico. Each image opens onto a lake or mountain landscape and is recognizable by its physical type or attributes, described according to Jacques de Voragine's Golden Legend: the knife and the devil in chains for Saint Bartholomew, the cardinal's habit and the lion of Saint Jerome, the arrows of Saint Sebastian's martyrdom and the princess diadem, the wheel and the sword of Saint Catherine's martyrdom.
The upper part of each panel is adorned with an ornamental arch surrounding the figures, carved in gilded wood and adorned with tracery that tops the image of each saint.
Scholars of the artist link Gil de Encinas, a painter from Zamora whose biography is scarcely known, with the prolific school of the Master of Astorga, especially with his production in Zamora. The Master of Astorga is considered one of the main artists of Renaissance Castile. It is true that not much biographical information is known about the artist, so that his name is not known, although he was active in León at the beginning of the 16th century. His work is known for the Altarpiece of San Miguel in the cathedral of Astorga, or the Nativity of Christ with Saint Dominic and Saint Lawrence and the History of Santiago that belongs to the collection of the Lázaro Galdiano Museum and the five panels that are in the collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid.
The panel of the Nativity with Saint Dominic and Saint Lawrence (Madrid, Museo Lázaro Galdiano) stands out as a valid point of comparison. There seems to be an eloquent comparison with the Nativity, an element of the triptych of Torre de Luzea (Zarauz, Guipúzcoa, Banco Hispano Americano) given to the Master of Zamora or working in the first third of the 16th century, where we find numerous points in common: same setting, same situation of the characters within the architecture and the landscape, identical oblong and well characterized faces of the figures and similar treatment of the clothes.