Valencian school; first half of the 16th century.

Valencian school; first half of the 16th century.
"Adoration of the Magi".
Oil on panel.
Measurements: 69 x 72 cm; 107 x 108 cm (frame).
The biblical episode of the Adoration of the Magi is loaded in this representation of a great plastic refinement. Under a sky crossed by the presence of the star of the East, the visit of the three Kings of the East to the Child Jesus is narrated. Wrapped in sumptuous costumes and accompanied by exotic servants, they are placed in the background. The kings carry their offerings in chests and jars of gold. Headed with satin turbans, they wear robes that reveal the opulence of kings. The soft velvety colors harmonize with a careful drawing that enhances the fineness of the features and the nobility of the gestures. Mary takes the Child in her lap and brings him closer to a Melchior with a long gray beard, who is showing him the gold contained in his cup. St. Joseph remains in the background, as is usual in depictions of the Holy Family. The vegetation has been depicted with the same care as the characters. The palette has been richly contrasted in its bright colors and tonal shifts.
The Valencian school is different from the rest of contemporary Spanish artistic centers, thanks to the fact that during most of the 15th and 16th centuries there was an important settlement of Italian and Flemish painters. Thus, throughout the history of art, Valencia has been an important focus of Spanish art, along with other schools such as Andalusia and Madrid. In Valencia, the change from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century was not a break with the previous tradition, but a continuation of it. In 1768 the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos was created, and this institution will determine a change towards a classicism of baroque roots. Through it, young artists were trained by José Vergara, Manuel Monfort, José Camarón, Vicente Marzo, Vicente López and Mariano Salvador Maella. On the other hand, the economic recovery will result in a thriving industrial and commercial bourgeoisie, which will seek to distinguish itself socially through artistic patronage. At the same time, the Church was losing its monopoly as the only client of the artists. All this will determine a definitive change in taste, and also in the genres treated: religious painting will now coexist with bourgeois portraiture, still life, landscape, historical and mythological themes and genre painting.