Juan de Borgoña

JUAN DE BORGOÑA (active in Toledo from 1495-Toledo, 1536).
"St. Nicholas of Bari, St. Bartholomew and St. Ptolemy".
Oil on panel. Cradled.
Attached report issued by Isabel Mateo.
It presents faults and restorations on the pictorial surface.
It has a 20th century frame, following Gothic models.
Measurements: 140 x 159 cm; 150,5 x 180 cm (frame).
The author of this work is a master fully in line with the aesthetic precepts of the painting of the Renaissance period in Castile. This affirmation is based on the treatment of the landscape that is developed in depth with the figures in the foreground arranged as a frieze and with anatomies that reveal a certain mannerism, which is also deduced from his chromatic palette, with pastel tones such as those of the pink mantle or the blues of the background, in addition to the gradations that he applies in the landscape and the ground. The mastery of drawing can be appreciated in the figuration of the three protagonists. The characteristics of the work allow us to place it in a very precise context, which is none other than the diffusion in Castilian lands of the art of Juan de Borgoña, the great master of the Renaissance active in Toledo. We find characters of similar anatomical rotundity, located in landscapes of clear northern adscription. The piece, which is presented with a large frame, shows Saint Nicholas on the left side of the composition, dressed as a bishop, Saint Bartholomew as the protagonist of the scene in the center of the composition and Saint Ptolemy on the right, dressed in the fashion of the time and holdinga globe in his hand. The presence of these three saints together, in the same composition, indicates the artist's interest in alluding to the voyages, the discoveries, in particular those of Columbus, made under the patronage of the Catholic Monarchs, in fact, it is Isabel Mateo in her report who mentions this simile.

Juan de Borgoña was one of the most important masters of the 16th century. His characteristic style made him one of the major initiators of the Renaissance in Castile thanks to his work in Toledo, where he certainly modified the aesthetic climate of the city. Although his origins are unknown, his name alludes to the northern area. However, due to the work he developed later, it is thought that he was in Italy working. His name appeared for the first time in 1495, linked to the work he did in the cloister of the cathedral of Toledo, where he painted the scene of the Visitation and several coats of arms.Although the work of Juan de Borgoña is linked to the cathedral of Toledo, his recognition as an artist increased the demand for his works in other parts of Spain such as Madrid, Cuenca, Guadalajara or Salamanca, taking for granted that he must have had a large workshop.