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Museo Nacional del Prado
Babble On. | Login
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0:07:55
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Channels: European ArtPaintingReligion and ArtSpanish Language
Themes: Learning to Look
Video with comments by María Antonia López de Asiain Zabia, museum's painting restorer, explaining the work The Crucifixion by Juan Sánchez as part of the educational programme 'The Prado speaks', an activity that takes place every Friday at noon, in which the museum's professionals comment on works of the collection.
The Prado speaks. The Crucifixion by Juan Sánchez, comments by María Antonia López de Asiain Zabia
Today we will be looking at this panel painted by Juan Sánchez depicting the Crucifixion.
Juan Sánchez is a relatively unknown artist and it may be for that reason that I have chosen to focus on him.
My intention to some extent here is to wave the flag for unknown beauties, like Palencia cathedral, for example.
This is a most unusual work, not just for its rough, primitive character and its very basic technique but also due to the very nature of its presentation.
The context here is that of medieval painting, almost all of which consists of fragments of altarpieces,
small elements that were separated from the whole ensemble, primarily during the Disentailment of monasteries in 19th-century Spain and their subsequent removal to the now defunct Museo de la Trinidad.
These works now seem to us like little scraps of history. The present work has remained whole and intact and was made as we still see it today.
Even the original supporting structure has survived, including the frame, which was nailed to the panel.
In other words, we are able to appreciate the work in its original, entire state. Nothing has been done to the support.
The panel retains its original supports on the back, a robust z-shaped element of thick transverse slats, which is so deep that the whole structure stands out from the wall.
I consider it exceptional that the visiting public can consequently see through to the back and appreciate an original support, made from a thick, Spanish plank in a rough and ready manner.
The painting was recently acquired by the Museum in 2002, basically on the personal initiative of the curator of this area of the collection, Pilar Silva.
She has of course undertaken a rigorous study of Spanish medieval painting in its entirety, but has also specifically focused on the so-called "Maestro de las figures anchas" [Master of the Broad Figures],
a name coined by Pons to refer to the volumetric nature of the foreground figures in this artist?s work.
Basing herself on the altarpiece in the monastery of Oña de Burgos, Pilar Silva was able to identify this anonymous master as Juan Sánchez.
She then located the present work - which is exceptionally well preserved - on the art market.
The panel was acquired by the Museum in 2002, since which date it has not been shown to the public and was kept in storage until the recent re-hanging of the collection.
This new reorganisation of the galleries has made it possible to present three or four new acquisitions, which is uncommon at the Museo del Prado.
This work is one of them, and we could consequently say that it has now made its debut in society.
The factors that I bore in mind when preparing to restore the work were firstly its intrinsic roughness, in other words, the primitive quality that is characteristic of this artist?s work.
Secondly, the challenge was to be able to hang such an unsophisticated painting near to the work of Fernando Gallego, opposite that artist?s Pietà and surrounded by masterpieces from our collection.
The issue was hence to recover the work?s intrinsic merits.
The panel corresponds to an interesting stylistic moment: that of the transition between International Gothic and Flemish Gothic.
The International Gothic element is to be seen in the emphasis on decoration in the delightful floral background, suggesting the sumptuous luxury of a floral tapestry,
in this case flowers painted on a completely matte, tempera background, producing an interplay of velvety and shiny surfaces.
The Flemish Gothic style makes its appearance in the crisper,
more geometrical folds, in the figures? poses, and in the style of the figures,
which are less characteristic of the International Gothic manner and more closely related to Flemish Gothic.
My task here as a paintings restorer was firstly to undertake a wide-ranging and in-depth process of conservation.
The paint surface had lifted from the panel, resulting in large blisters and bumps that were relatively easy to resolve.
More complicated was the task of unifying the areas of damage that the work had inevitably suffered due to its age with some areas that had been restored in the past.
The issue here was simply to create a homogeneous appearance so that the general public could not detect restorations or damage,
and the procedure did not involve reworking all the old areas of restoration.
As I noted above, one of the merits of this painting is its decorative nature. For a work of its type, the rich background is exceptional.
It retains its original gold, the thickness of which is almost visible to the naked eye. This is a very robust, heavy gold, in addition to which we find the presence of silver.
All the lower part of the landscape, including the rocks, is painted with silver.
These areas were first painted then sheets of silver leaf were added over the paint. The horizontal planes were then punched and incised using the esgrafiado technique.
The artist thus achieved a sense of volume using an unusual material. It is probably easiest to see in this area.
The silver has oxidised a great deal, as might be expected, but we can still make out something of its interplay of reflections and glints.
When I embarked on the panel?s treatment it was almost devoid of varnish. The challenge was not to need to re-varnish it, which is, in fact, difficult after cleaning.
The painting is executed with slightly greasy tempera, at least with regard to the figures. The black background, however, is painted with a size-based tempera, which is very ductile in water.
. A very careful, gradual type of treatment therefore had to be used in order not to affect it and I succeeded in not having to varnish the background areas.
The aim was to retain that velvety quality in the black, creating a contrast with the gleam of the gold. I applied varnish with a damper but only to the figures, which were painted with a greasy tempera.
As I result I succeeded in recovering the decorative effect of the contrasts between the shiny and matte areas and the silk and flesh tones, which is clearly what the artist originally intended.
It is immediately evident that the drapery of the Virgin corresponds to the International Gothic style.
Painted in tempera, it is very flat, falling in almost straight sections. Tempera was applied directly, without the use of glazes characteristic of oil painting.
The works to be seen in these galleries typify the transition from Romanesque to Gothic painting, at a time when Gothic painters began to uses glazes.
We see Berruguete attempting to do so, and Juan de Flandes succeeding. Within this transitional context,
my intention was thus to give this work back its original character, recreating that primitive, rough spirit.
Looking at this panel I do not see great technical merit, or a use of glazes or perspective, or a sense of spatial depth.
Rather, I see a painter who wanted to recount the episode of the Lamentation over the body of a suffering, bleeding Christ,
which he conveyed through the beauty of his decorative use of the materials. One might say that this painting is characterised more by its spirit than by its substance.
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