Atributted to Maestro Juan Tejerina

Attributed to the Master JUAN TEJERINA, 16th century.
"The betrothal of the Virgin and Saint Joseph".
Oil on panel.
It has a 20th century frame following 15th century models.
Measurements. 75 x 53 cm; 95 x 58 cm (frame).
In the midst of the transition between the Gothic and Renaissance styles, this work shows us the author's knowledge of the new humanist trends. This is reflected in the way the space is composed, as the scene is organised through a vanishing point based on the viewer's gaze. The symmetry, common in this image of long artistic tradition, and the use of counterposts, movements and folds of the garments distance the work from the hieratic style typical of the Gothic period, although it is true that certain figures are reminiscent of that period. The panel depicts a theme that was particularly popular in the late Middle Ages, although its textual source is not to be found in the canonical biblical texts but in various apocryphal accounts. It concerns the betrothal of the Virgin Mary to the elderly Saint Joseph. From the 12th and 13th centuries until the end of the Gothic period, Mary gained importance as a symbol of the Church and its faithful, but also as an increasingly close, human figure, as the mother who intercedes for her earthly children, humanity, before her heavenly Son, Christ, seeking his forgiveness. In line with this growing importance, interest in her life, the events that marked her earthly existence and her destiny after her death also increased. Numerous devotional and mystical works, in many cases inspired by the ancient apocryphal texts written in the first centuries of Christianity, hastened to fill in the gaps left by the evangelists, recounting episodes of his childhood and youth in detail. In the case of her marriage to Saint Joseph, the sources take special care to emphasise the miraculous character of this marriage, pointing out that the suitor was chosen from among all the just and honourable men of Jerusalem, both unmarried and widowed, thanks to a divine sign.
The stylistic characteristics of the piece bring us closer to the work of the master Juan Tejerina, whose production developed especially in the area of Palencia. A follower of Juan de Flandes, his aesthetic proximity has led to the attribution of the two panels of the Visitation of the Virgin to Saint Elizabeth and the Adoration of the Kings, which are included in the upper section of the main altarpiece in Palencia cathedral. The Annunciation and the Nativity in the church of Santa Eulalia in Paredes de Nava are also attributed to him.