Flamenco Art
S.XVI
INTRODUCTION
In the sixteenth century with the birth of romanticism, the greatest expansion of painting of all times took place. In the Netherlands there were then more than three hundred painters of great genius and considerable artistic quality. The production of paintings was remarkable and much paint was exported abroad.
In those times in the Kingdom of Spain, in this country and in consequence, it was the large number of paintings that arrived in our country. Canary Islands as an emerging city and as an obligatory step towards America was the destination of many paintings of flamenco art of exceptional quality.
In the showroom of the Casa Museo de Colón, we have a sample of some Flemish paintings from the mid-sixteenth century. Highlights four paintings that are not hanging on the wall as in an exhibition of paintings. The reason is that they are also painted on the back.
These paintings are painted on a board, the fingers are smaller than the "Gunmart of Antwerp" and dated in the 1540s. The other two small ones were attributed to a painter Maestro del Papagayo. It was customary at that time that many painters who began their professional activity in workshops of painters and acquaintances, do not sign their first pictures with their real names until they have a well-defined style, the most prominent are called teachers, and then The expected results will be announced by name. Normally they stayed with the name of Masters and thus we find good painters with the denomination of Masters and with a second name that define their peculiarities, like this Master of the Papagayo that in his pictures used to introduce the figure of a parrot. Also included in this group is the Master of the figures of the media, who became famous by painting people for the waist or the Master of the Death of the Virgin, who became very famous when painting paintings with an allusion to the death of the Virgin , or the Master of the Prodigal Son, or the Master of Saint Catherine and many more.
Of the four exposed double boards, the paintings visible in their main part are: San Juan Bautista, Santa Lucia, San Bartolomé Apóstol and Santa Catalina, and the reverse of them would be: The Martyrdom of Saint John the Evangelist, The Mass of Saint Gregory , Santa Inés and La Magdalena penitente.
In those times in the Kingdom of Spain, in this country and in consequence, it was the large number of paintings that arrived in our country. Canary Islands as an emerging city and as an obligatory step towards America was the destination of many paintings of flamenco art of exceptional quality.
In the showroom of the Casa Museo de Colón, we have a sample of some Flemish paintings from the mid-sixteenth century. Highlights four paintings that are not hanging on the wall as in an exhibition of paintings. The reason is that they are also painted on the back.
These paintings are painted on a board, the fingers are smaller than the "Gunmart of Antwerp" and dated in the 1540s. The other two small ones were attributed to a painter Maestro del Papagayo. It was customary at that time that many painters who began their professional activity in workshops of painters and acquaintances, do not sign their first pictures with their real names until they have a well-defined style, the most prominent are called teachers, and then The expected results will be announced by name. Normally they stayed with the name of Masters and thus we find good painters with the denomination of Masters and with a second name that define their peculiarities, like this Master of the Papagayo that in his pictures used to introduce the figure of a parrot. Also included in this group is the Master of the figures of the media, who became famous by painting people for the waist or the Master of the Death of the Virgin, who became very famous when painting paintings with an allusion to the death of the Virgin , or the Master of the Prodigal Son, or the Master of Saint Catherine and many more.
Of the four exposed double boards, the paintings visible in their main part are: San Juan Bautista, Santa Lucia, San Bartolomé Apóstol and Santa Catalina, and the reverse of them would be: The Martyrdom of Saint John the Evangelist, The Mass of Saint Gregory , Santa Inés and La Magdalena penitente.
Let's see now the painting of San Juan Bautista, which as you can see unlike the soft landscape that has the painting of Santa Lucia, this is wild and leafy, and also the scene behind San Juan is the most important event in the history of his life : The baptism of Christ: Jesus immersed in the river receives the water of the Jordan, while from above the clouds open and the spirit drops like a dove as the Gospel of St. John tells us. God the Father figures within a luminous light and an angel holds the tunic of Jesus while this miracle takes place.
It is interesting to observe the figure of San Juan, bearded, with wrinkles and very marked features especially on the forehead of deep furrows between which the two protuberances in the eyebrows stand out. The almond-shaped eyes, a little sad, the straight nose and the mouth with melancholy rictus that leads us to think of a certain nostalgia for what I wanted to be and what I really was.
The fact is that John in his life trajectory created a messianic figure greater than himself, he was very clear that he would be the chosen one, and in the end the one who came was Jesus. The Gospel of Mark presents John as the fulfillment of a prophecy of Isaiah. According to Mark, Jesus was baptized by John in the river Jordan, and when he came out of the water he saw how the sky opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove, and a voice from heaven said to Jesus: You are my dear son, my favorite. From that moment, Juan became aware of his position, masterfully expressed with a lot of fluency in the painting.
San Juan Bautista was defined as "a voice that cries out in the desert," was a great preacher who had many followers. His death ordered by Herod has been the subject of numerous stories, even taken to the movies. San Juan Bautista was beheaded and the fate of his head is difficult to determine.
They say that Herod buried her in the fortress of Maqueronte (the fortress where, according to Josephus, he had been executed). Other authors say that she was buried in the Herod Palace in Jerusalem, where she was found in the reign of Constantine I and taken secretly to Emesa, where she hid. The place where he hid was unknown for years, until it was discovered in 453.
Several places affirm or have claimed to have the severed head of John the Baptist. For the Church that place is the chapel of San Juan Bautista of the Mosque of the Omeyas of Damascus; The place was visited by Pope John Paul II in 2001, who "paused for a minute to meditate in silence before the tomb of St. John the Baptist".
Saint John is presented in this painting with one of the iconographic motifs of the saint, which is the lamb with the phylactery "Ecce Agnus Dei", the Lamb of God in its most common meaning refers to Jesus Christ as a victim offered in sacrifice by the sins of man. His presence is considered fundamental and integral to the message of Christianity. In this case the mystic lamb is presented with a crown of thorns and a bleeding wound in the side as it happened to Jesus in the crucifixion.
His head tilted and his eyes looking to one side seem to want us to look at what is happening in the background. The clothing of San Juan, like that of Santa Lucia is austere, heavy and strong fabrics that provides a broad fall.
It is curious the way in which the painter shows us the authorship of this painting, let's look at the pedestal under the broken column of the painting, almost at the feet of San Juan there is a written message that says "mea echo Gunmart de enveres" + 154 Nice way to sign your work, and in old Spanish.
How to get
Casa Museo Colón
Calle Colón, 1
35001 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas
España
Google Maps: Calle Colón, 1, 35001, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
