Biography

Fernando Gallego is one of the most important and influential painters of the last third of the 15th century and the early years of the 16th century in Castile. The scarce documentation found to date on Fernando Gallego provides very few details about his biography. It is documented that he produced works in 1468 for the Cathedral of Plasencia (Cáceres), where he is mentioned alongside another painter, Juan Felipe (Benavides, 1905). In 1473, a contract for the creation of six altarpieces for the Cathedral of Coria (Cáceres) referred to him as "a resident of Salamanca" (Escobar, 1901). Among the paintings attributed to him, with the collaboration of his workshop, the main altarpiece of the Cathedral of Ciudad Rodrigo (1480–1488) is particularly notable; twenty-six panels from this altarpiece are now housed in The University of Arizona Museum of Art. Other significant works include the altarpiece of the Church of Santa María de Trujillo (Cáceres) (c. 1490). Three signed works have allowed for the recognition of his style: La Piedad or The Fifth Anguish (Prado Museum), the triptych of The Virgin of the Rose (Cathedral Museum of Salamanca), and the Altarpiece of Saint Ildefonso (Zamora Cathedral). Characteristics of his style include the quality of his drawing, his meticulous compositional schemes, the depiction of figures, and his varied use of colour, with a less profuse presence of gold than in other areas of Castile (Silva Maroto, 2004). He also contributed to the former main altarpiece of Zamora Cathedral (before 1494), whose panels were later sold to the parish church of Arcenillas (Zamora). Additionally, his work includes the astrological vault of the University of Salamanca (post-1479). Numerous panels attributed to Gallego are present in various collections and museums, most of which likely formed part of altarpieces. Examples include The Coronation of the Virgin of Villaflores (Diocesan Museum of Salamanca) and The Adoration of the Magi from the Pedro Masaveu Collection (Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias, Oviedo).

Bibliography

• BENAVIDES, José (1905): "Nota que facilita D. José Benavides, chantre de la Catedral de Plasencia", vol. 13, nº 144, Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones (BSEE).
• ESCOBAR, Eugenio (1901): "La catedral de Coria", vol. 9, nº 106, Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones.
• SILVA MAROTO, Pilar (2004): Fernando Gallego, Caja Duero, Salamanca.