Auction 88 On Emperors, Monarchs and Faith
Nov 25, 2021
Carrer del Comte de Salvatierra, nº8, 08006 Barcelona (Spain)

The auction has ended

LOT 16:

Maestro del Retablo de Fuentelcarnero (Artista cercano al Maestro de Astorga, activo en Zamora, primer tercio del ...


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Maestro del Retablo de Fuentelcarnero (Artista cercano al Maestro de Astorga, activo en Zamora, primer tercio del siglo XVI)
century).
"King David"
Tempera on wood. The original carved and gilded wooden cresting is preserved. Panel measurements: 93,5 x 23,5 cm. Total measurements: 104,5 x 23,5 cm.
This is one of the prophets from the cornice of the main altarpiece of Saint Stephen, which was made for the parish church of Fuentelcarnero.
The reredos was created by three characters, who were certainly all followers of the Master of Astorga, and as Marc Ballesté indicates in his thesis “De la pintura Hispano-flamenca al primer Renacimiento en las antiguas diócesis de León y Astorga: El Maestro de Palanquinos y el Maestro de Astorga (c.1480 – 1540) ((On Hispanic-Flemish painting of the early Renaissance in the former dioceses of Leon and Astorga: The Master of Palanquinos and the Master of Astorga (c. 1480-1540)):
“Thanks to a photograph taken of it by Gudiol in 1946, we know what the previously cited dismanteled altarpiece from Fuentelcarnero would have looked like. The same painter from Zamora (meaning Gil de Encinas) worked on it, but alongside two other characters, the master of Fuentelcarnero and an anonymous painter who was very close to the master of Astorga…”. Ballesté attributes the panels of the scenes of the Epiphany, Saint Stephen being ordained deacon, the transference of the tomb of Saint Stephen, the Veneration of the relics of Saint Stephen and the six prophets, the patriarchs on the lateral cornices, and two other panels which are not graphically documented to the Master of Fuentelcarnero.
In his thesis, other examples of prophets and patriarchs from the lateral cornices of the reredos of Fuentelcarnero are reproduced. Their whereabouts are currently unknown. Fig. 543 - 545 page 285 and Fig. 548 -549, page. 287, are the same in structure and style to this panel.
Similarly, the Institut Amatller in Barcelona, has a reproduction of nine vertical panels depicting prophets and patriarchs from the cornice of the reredos of Fuentelcarnero, and one of those is a copy of this panel.
Other writers have also studied the reredos of Fuentelcarnero, such as:
Isabel Mateo, who maintains the thesis about the Master of Astorga being the creator in her 2018 publication dedicated to the reredos of Fuentelcarnero: “Reconstruction of the missing Saint Stephen reredos, by the Master of Astorga in Fuentelcarnero Parish Church, Zamora”.
And others, as can be read in Marc Ballesté’s thesis: “Gómez Moreno and Post saw it in its original structure before it was dismantled. The first related it to the anonymous master of the retrochoir panel in the cathedral, and the American attributed it to Juan de Rodríguez de Solís. In 1987, with the panels of the reredos already sold off to the Madrid-based merchant Jesús García Gras, Díaz Padrón disagreed with Post by identifying three painters: the Master of Astorga and his followers the Master of Zamora – to whom he does not clearly attribute any scene, and the Master of Fuentelcarnero. Finally, Fiz on identifying the character of Gil de Encinas, sees his brushwork in the majority of the landscapes.”
Finally, in his thesis, Ballesté indicates that the Epiphany and the Circumcision which are in the Banco Santander collection, were also by the Master of Fuentelcarnero. They had come from the Luzea Tower, belonging to the Zarauz family, where they had been displayed alongside a third panel dedicated to the Nativity, in the form of a triptych. The three panels came from an altar which is now missing.