Luis de Velasco

LUIS DE VELASCO (Toledo, c. 1530-1606).
"Saint Dominic of Guzman.
Oil on panel.
Repainting and restorations on the pictorial surface.
Presents sealing wax seal on the back.
Measurements: 54 x 32,5 cm; 69,5 x 48 cm (frame).
This work represents Saint Dominic in a moment of mystical experience, embracing the cross. The scene takes place in an interior of classical inspiration. Idea that is realized by the opening that allows to see the landscape of the scene dominated by a ruin. Saint Dominic de Guzman, born in Castile in 1170, was the founder of the Order of Preachers, better known as Dominicans. During his childhood he received a careful moral and cultural formation, finally awakening his vocation towards the ecclesiastical state. After studying humanities, theology and philosophy in Palencia, where he was also a professor, he was ordained a priest, and was finally named ambassador extraordinary by King Alfonso VIII of Castile. After obtaining in 1216 the authorization to found his order, he devoted his last years to its organization and to several missionary journeys to France and Italy. Legend, however, has added much to his biography. Numerous miracles were also attributed to the saint during his preaching, especially the resurrection of a young man who died from a fall from a horse and the rescue of some pilgrims who were going to drown while trying to cross the Garonne to Santiago de Compostela. It also has an extensive iconography related to all these episodes, including symbols such as the dog with the torch, the white lilac, the star, the cross, the standard and the holy rosary, the book and the church and the three mitres. One of the most outstanding episodes of his legend is the apparition to the saint of the Virgin of the Rosary. The tradition, which began in the 15th century, tells that the mother of God herself taught Saint Dominic to pray the rosary in 1208, telling him to propagate this devotion and to use it as a powerful weapon against the enemies of the faith. Appearing in the chapel where the saint was praying, holding a rosary in his hand, he taught him to recite it, promising that many sinners would be converted and obtain abundant graces. St. Dominic left there full of zeal, with the rosary in his hand. Indeed he preached it, and with great success, achieving that many Albingenses returned to the Catholic faith.

Luis de Velasco was a Spanish painter of the Mannerist Renaissance, active in Toledo where he obtained the position of first painter of the cathedral. The first documents about him date from 1555, when he is described as a painter of imagery. At that time he worked with two of the leading sculptors of the time, Nicolás de Vergara the Elder and Juan Bautista Vázquez the Elder. Other documents show that he was closely associated with Vergara to execute several altarpieces in parishes of the archbishopric, such as those of Villar del Pedroso and Pinto. In 1556 he was paid for painting the altarpiece of the Colegio de Infantes de Toledo, a work by Vergara, and he signed the contract for the paintings of the main altarpiece of the parish of the Asunción de Nuestra Señora de Fuentelencina, which was done by the Sigüenza painter Diego de Madrid. He maintained an equally close relationship with the painter Hernando de Ávila, his brother-in-law, with whom he formed a partnership in 1560. In 1571 he began his first documented works for the cathedral of Toledo. He was appointed painter of the cathedral, although with a delay of 10 years. He was immediately commissioned to renovate the triptych of Our Lady of Grace in the cloister, his most interesting surviving work, with its monumental figures reminiscent of the style of Raphael. That same year, 1581, he painted the Annunciation, which can still be seen above the door of the chapel of San Pedro. Among his minor works, he illustrated some cathedral books. In the sacristy are preserved the paintings of San Antonio Abad and the Presentation in the Temple, which he painted in 1587 for the chapel of San Blas.