Title
Saint Bartholomew
sculptor
Siloé, Gil de (Burgos. Active 1480-1500)
Generic classification
SculptureObject
SculptureDate
ca. 1500Century
Late 15th c.Cultural context / style
Late GothicDimensions
28 7/8 x 7 1/4 x 9Material
AlabasterTechnique
SculptedProvenance
Nuestra Señora del Fresdelval Monastery, Burgos (Fresdelval, Burgos, Spain)Current location
Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, United States)Inventory Number in Current Collection
18.318Object history
In the monastery of Fresdelval from 1500 to the 19th century.
In 1916 in Paris, Bacri Frères.
Sold in 1917 by Bacri Frères to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Description
The work comes from the frieze of apostles of the upper part, not preserved, of the tomb of Juan de Padilla, originally in the main chapel of the monastery of Fresdelval (Burgos) and today in the Museum of Burgos. A work made by Gil de Siloé with the collaboration of his workshop in the last years of the 15th century that has suffered different transfers and losses throughout the centuries.
Saint Bartholomew appears standing, dressed in tunic and mantle that breaks in deep and hard folds, which hide the lower part of the image. The saint tilts his head to the left, as if he wanted to contemplate a passage of the book he holds open in his hand, in a rather awkward posture while holding a chain at the end of which appears chained the monstrous figure of the devil who pulls the chain to try to free himself while with his left hand he tables his beard as a sign of despair. The saint's right hand is missing, in which he would carry the knife with which he was flayed, his other usual attribute.
As in the other preserved figures, the image has been treated with great detail, as can be seen in the saint's hair and beard, in the button that closes the upper part of his tunic or in the links of the chain. The folds are more expressive than in the other figures and stand out for their good plastic treatment, also noting the sculptor's interest in differentiating the textures of the materials he represents, the hair, the fabrics, or the demon's skin, matte and worked with a stippling to suggest a scaly surface. There is also a slight asymmetry in the face of the protagonist that shows the hand of the workshop.
According to Wethey, St. Bartholomew's head is reminiscent of that of St. Philip in the tomb of the infant Don Alfonso in the Carthusian monastery of Miraflores.
Locations
1500 - XIXth c.
1916 - 1917
dealer/antiquarian
Bacri Frères, Paris (France) *
1917 - present
Bibliography
- ASSAS, Manuel de (1878): Monumentos arquitectónicos de España. Monasterio de Fresdelval, Imprenta de Fortanet, Madrid.
- FRANCO MATA, María Ángela (1978): "Tres esculturas góticas procedentes del Monasterio de Fresdelval (Burgos) en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional", vol. 81, nº 4, en Revista de Archivos Bibliotecas y Museos.
- GILLERMAN, Dorothy (ed.) (1989): Gothic Sculpture in America: 1. The New England Museums, International Center of Medieval Art, Nueva York.
- GÓMEZ BÁRCENA, María Jesús (1988): Escultura gótica funeraria en Burgos, Excma. Diputación Provincial, Burgos.
- PAYO HERNANZ, René Jesús y ZAPARAÍN YÁÑEZ, María José (2019): "“Lujo más allá de la muerte. Fundaciones monásticas y sepulcros de alabastro de algunas de las familias de la nobleza en Burgos a finales de la Edad Media”", nº 7, en ARS & RENOVATIO.
- VASALLO TORANZO, Luis (2019): "“Felipe Bigarny a la luz de su testamento e inventarios de bienes”", vol. XCII, nº 366, en Archivo Español de Arte.
- WETHEY, Harold E. (1936): Gil de Siloe and His School: A Study of Late Gothic Sculpture in Burgos, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
- YARZA LUACES, Joaquín (1991): Gil de Siloé, vol. 16, Historia, Madrid.
- YARZA LUACES, Joaquín, e IBÁÑEZ PÉREZ, Alberto C.(eds.) (2001): Actas del Congreso Internacional sobre Gil Siloe y la escultura de su época, Institución Fernán González-Caja de Burgos, Burgos.
Record manager
Miguel Hermoso CuestaCitation:
Miguel Hermoso Cuesta, "Saint Bartholomew" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/250
