Lorenzo de Avila

LORENZO DE ÁVILA (Avila, c. 1473/1492-Toro, 1570).
"Resurrected Christ" and "Holy Burial".
Oil on panels (x2). Cradled.
Bibliography: Velasco González, A. Noves pintures de Toledo i Zamora de la primera meitat del segle XVI: Francisco de Comontes y Lorenzo de Ávila. In: El gran valor de les lletres u les humanitats. Tribute to Dr. Frederic Vilá i Tornos. CAEM. Universitat de Lleida 2015 p. 316, fig. 7.
It presents Repainting and restorations.
It has a frame with flaws and damage caused by xylophages.
Measurements: 50 x 50 cm (x2); 66 x 65,5 cm (frames,x2).
Pair of panels representing the Holy Burial and the Resurrection of Christ. The technique, which shows that both belong to the same hand, the support, the subject matter and the dimensions are features that indicate that the two works originally belonged to a larger pictorial cycle, probably in which different scenes of the last moments of the life of Christ were represented, destined therefore to decorate a religious architectural space. In the two paintings Christ is the protagonist of the composition. In one he is shown in the moment in which he is deposited in the tomb, while the other is placed in the center of the composition triumphant before the surprised look of the soldiers. As for the style, it is worth mentioning the treatment of color with a palette of bright tones. Because of the technical characteristics, such as the modeling of the forms, the shades used, the type of composition, and even the aesthetic details used in the treatment of the canvases that make up the scenes, these works are very reminiscent of Lorenzo de Avila's painting. In fact, a very characteristic feature is the anatomical elongation, which can be seen especially in the body of Christ in both works. It should be noted that due to the economic strength of Castile and the influence of the royal court, the area accepted and assimilated the new humanist concepts of life and art because of its spiritual, political and economic conditions, although from the point of view of the plastic forms, its adaptation of those introduced by Italy was slower due to the need to learn the new techniques and to change the taste of the clientele.
Lorenzo de Avila was a Spanish Renaissance painter, also known as the Master of Pozuelo, in honor of a town where he had painted an altarpiece, whose name is unknown. Although Lorenzo de Avila was born in Avila, he is first mentioned in Toledo in 1507, where he was commissioned three drawings of indeterminate subject matter for the cathedral, which would serve as a model for the embroidery that would cover the processional cross of Corpus Christi.Lorenzo de Avila may have moved to Toledo to train with Juan de Borgoña, whose style was reflected in his paintings and whose influence continued well into the second half of the sixteenth century. In 1521 we find him in León, where he remained until 1524, painting the Disputation of Jesus with the Doctors in the cloister of the cathedral, now disappeared. Later he is recorded in Pozuelo de la Orden, in the province of Valladolid, where he received his first payment in 1528 for an altarpiece painted with Andrés de Melgar, which was transferred to the collegiate church of San Isodoro de León at the beginning of the 20th century. He moved to Toro in 1529, where he set up a painting workshop in which other local painters worked, including his master's son, Juan de Borgoña el Joven, Blas de Oña, Alonso de Aguilar and Luis del Castillo. His son, Hernando de Ávila, was painter to Philip II.