Title

St. Jerome

Theotocopoulos, Domenicos (Creta, ca. 1541 - Toledo, ca. 1614)

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Inscriptions / Marks

The work is signed by Domenikos Theotokopoulos.

Object history

On February 15, 1904, the chapter of the cathedral of Valladolid took note of some proposals presented by several antique dealers with the purpose of buying antique objects from the cathedral; for this purpose a special commission was appointed to be in charge of resolving what was most convenient and to give an account of its decision to the chapter. A little more than a month later, on March 21 of the same year, the chapter took up the subject again and quickly resolved: "Regarding the sale of antiques, for the time being only the two portraits of El Greco will be sent, but not for less than 25,000 pesetas". They were this St. Jerome as Cardinal, currently in the Frick Collection in New York, and a Portrait of a Gentleman from the house of Leiva, now in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The revision of the cathedral's accounts corresponding to the same year offers confirmation of such an operation: "7ª. Idem. twenty-five thousand pesetas from the sale of two paintings said to be by El Greco... 25,000 pesetas". These accounts also included the 26,500 pesetas which that same year were paid to Amezúa for the second and last installment of the construction of the organ, so this must have been the destination of the profit obtained from the sale of the Grecos (Martínez Ruiz, 2008, t. 1, p. 291).

A few months later, when public opinion became aware of this sale, a lively controversy arose, especially encouraged by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of the Immaculate Conception of Valladolid, and above all by its president, Joaquín Álvarez Taladriz and his son, Ángel María Álvarez Taladriz, who expressed their indignation with particular vehemence in the local newspapers. In the first moments, Archbishop Jose Maria Cos affirmed: "I know from rumors that have reached me, that there have been some who have made offers to acquire the paintings. But I believe that the contract of sale has not been finalized, because if it had been, I would have heard about it for sure". The prelate's words were refuted in the media by Joaquín Álvarez Taladriz, a lawyer and collector who knew well the circles of the art trade, where the rumor of the sale was circulating. According to him, there had been several offers: Chicote, an antique dealer from Valladolid, had even offered "3,000 duros" for the works, but the operation had finally been settled with the foreign dealer Emile Parés, who according to his statements had delivered 5,000 pesetas of the total 25,000 pesetas signed with the chapter for the two paintings by El Greco. Once this information was published, the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de la Purísima Concepción asked for information to the archbishopric of Valladolid, the answer of this one was clear: they believed the sale was justified, since with the obtained benefit it was intended to pay the organ acquired by the cathedral. A response that did not convince the critical voices, many were those who did not hide their anger at such an unequal exchange (Brasas Egido, 1993, pp. 120-121).

Ángel María Taladriz explained the nature of the works sold: "About half a century ago they were exhumed in the basements of the Cathedral by a lover of painting who today presides over the Academy of Fine Arts of this city, who was helped in his very meritorious work by the Professor of Canons of the University of Valladolid, Dr. Valle, He also considered that the sale price was much lower than its value, since the master's work was in fact highly prized on the international market at that time. Canon, archivist and librarian Manuel de Castro y Alonso responded to the criticism by stating that for more than a year the sale had been announced and photographs had been sent in order to assess the value of the paintings; and although many foreigners and Spaniards had come to see them, the final price of the sale was more than what any expert had given for them (Brasas Egido, 1993, pp. 120-124). The controversy over the sale of the paintings reached Madrid; the matter was discussed at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando and in the national press, where the sale of the Grecos in the cathedral of Valladolid ignited the debate about the need to legislate to prevent the sale and export of the country's artistic wealth (Martínez Ruiz, 2008, t. 1, pp. 290-298).

After the sale of the cabildo to the antique dealer Emile Parés, the canvases passed to V. Boudariat, a Parisian dealer, who in turn sold them to Trotti & Co. in Paris. The French ambassador in Spain between 1902 and 1907, Jules Cambon, stated that he tried to buy "the cardinal" for the Louvre. The agreement on the paintings between Trotti & Co. and the firm M. Knoedler & Co., which was based in Paris, London and New York, explains why the works traveled to New York, where at that time the appreciation and thus the demand by collectors for works by the Greco was intense. St. Jerome was acquired by Henry Clay Frick, which is why the work is now in the Frick Collection in New York, the residence of the steel magnate, which today houses the exquisite collection of art that he created. Over the fireplace in one of the halls of the residence-museum is this St. Jerome, which in 1904 was sold in the cathedral of Valladolid.

Description

It is one of the five versions of Saint Jerome as a Cardinal attributed to El Greco -the one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the one in the José Várez-Fisa collection in Madrid, the one in the National Gallery in London, and the small version preserved in the Bonnat Museum in Bayonne.

This work, from the cathedral of Valladolid, is considered the oldest and the only one that appears signed (Brown, 2001, pp. 28-30).

Locations

• 1904

  cathedral

  Valladolid Cathedral, Valladolid (Spain)

• Unknown date

  dealer/antiquarian

  Emilio Pares, Paris (France) *

• Unknown date

  dealer/antiquarian

  V. Boudariat, Paris (France) *

• Unknown date

  dealer/antiquarian

  Trotti & Co., Paris (France) *

• Unknown date

  dealer/antiquarian

  M. Knoedler and Company, New York (United States) *

• 1905 - present

  museum

  The Frick Collection, New York (United States)