Title

Altarpiece of Santa Ana de Sinovas

painter

Maestro de Sinovas [attributed to]

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Object history

This altarpiece was originally conceived for the Church of San Nicolás de Bari, in Aranda de Duero (Burgos). In 1913, the church’s parish priest recorded the following in the parish register:

"On the 19th of March, 1913, an old altarpiece was sold with the aim of repairing, refurbishing, and properly restoring the church, for the sum of 10,000 pesetas, in the presence and with the encouragement of the townsfolk. This amount was invested in nominal 11,000 pesetas of the Internal Perpetual Debt, with 500 pesetas remaining in cash for the most urgent works. Sinovas, 31st of March, as previously noted” (López Vilaboa, 2012).

The parish priest sold the work without the required authorisation, resulting in the case being brought before the Burgos Court. He was accused of fraud, as the money received from the sale was significantly lower than its appraised value. However, as this was the only charge, the prosecutor withdrew the accusation, and the priest was ultimately acquitted (López Vilaboa, 2012). During the proceedings, it was revealed that he had sold the altarpiece to Joaquín Cabrejo y Moreno for 12,000 pesetas, of which 2,000 were distributed among the village residents.

The altarpiece subsequently passed through the hands of two antique dealers in Valladolid and Madrid, who arranged for it to be sent to France to be sold by Emilio Pares. The piece later surfaced in Paris at the Demotte antique gallery, where it was acquired in 1916 by an Argentine diplomat and writer, Enrique Larreta (López Vilaboa, 2012). Larreta installed the altarpiece in the oratory of his residence in Buenos Aires, and, after his death, his children donated it to the Museum of Spanish Art in 1961, where it remains to this day (Santonja, 2004).

Description

Originally, it featured two doors in the form of a triptych, but these have since disappeared. According to López Vilaboa (2012), the altarpiece arose “as a result of the theological disputes of those years concerning the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary”. It is dedicated to the cycle of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne. Some of the scenes depicted include Saint Catherine of Alexandria, the Mass of Pope Saint Gregory, the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, the Trial of Saint Cyprian of Carthage, the Resurrection of Christ, and Saint Anne with the Virgin (López Vilaboa, 2012). Stylistically, it adheres to the classic Gothic structure, though it combines elements of International Gothic with Hispano-Flemish art.

Locations

• ca. 1503 - 1913

  church

  San Nicolás de Bari Church, Aranda de Duero, Sinovas, Aranda de Duero (Spain)

• ca. 1913

  dealer/antiquarian

  Joaquín Cabrejo y Moreno, Madrid (Spain) *

• ca. 1913 - ca. 1915

  dealer/antiquarian

  Emilio Pares, Paris (France) *

• ca. 1915 - ca. 1916

  dealer/antiquarian

  Georges Joseph Demotte, Paris (France) *

• ca. 1916 - 1961

  private collection

  Enrique Larreta, Buenos Aires (Argentina) *

• ca. 1961 - present

  museum

  Museo de Arte Español "Enrique Larreta", Buenos Aires (Argentina)