Title

Saint Jude

painter

Francés, Nicolás [school of] (León. Active 1434-1468)

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

The church of San Félix de Villalobos (Zamora) had an altarpiece with a baroque structure, although it preserved some panels dating from the 15th century. Gómez-Moreno (1927) described the tables as follows: "ten busts of apostles on engraved gold backgrounds, measuring 52 by 33 centimeters; four boards, 96 by 34 centimeters, with Saints Anton, Sebastian and two bishops, on damasked backgrounds [...]" (Gómez-Moreno, 1927). In 1932 Post (1934) visited the collection of Hubert Meersmans de Smet, a collector of Belgian origin based in Granada, and saw this panel. During his years in Spain, Meersmans maintained relationships with very prominent antique dealers, such as Marcelino Dupont or Apolinar Sánchez-Villalba, among others (Meersmans Sánchez-Jofré, 2020). Thus, it is possible that he was able to acquire this panel through the Madrid antiquarian. Although Meersmans had amassed more than 3,000 pieces in his collection, in 1929 he went through an economic crisis that forced him to dispose of much of his property. In 1930 he sold his assets to the Duke of Infantado, Joaquín Arteaga y Echaguirre. From then on his collection began to disperse.

In 1941 the Japanese diplomat Yakichiro Suma arrived in Spain and began to visit auction houses and antique dealers with the aim of forging a collection of Spanish art, at which time he acquired this piece. In 1945, when he finished his work in the country, he tried to export his entire collection, however, part of his goods were blocked by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One of the works he managed to export was this St. Jude, which he later bequeathed to the Nagasaki Prefectural Museum of Art (Otaka, 2005).

Description

This piece was probably part of the predella of the altarpiece and was placed next to other saints. The painting of Nicolás Francés was characterized by its naturalism, its narrative eagerness and for having a great Italian influence (Post, 1966). Although the artist did not have the same hand as the latter, the attempt to emulate his painting can be appreciated, which has led Post (1934) to consider it as belonging to the school of Nicolás Francés. The expression of Judas' eyes and his hands stand out.

Locations

• ca. 1460 - ca. 1920

  church

  San Félix Church, Villalobos (Spain)

• Early XX^th c.

  dealer/antiquarian

  Apolinar Sánchez-Villalba, Madrid (Spain) *

• First quarter of the XX^th c. - 1932

  private collection

  Hubert Meersmans de Smet, Granada (Spain) *

• ca. 1941 - ca. 1970

  private collection

  Yakichiro Suma, Madrid/Nagasaki (Japón) *

• XX^th c. - 2025

  museum

  Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum, Nagasaki (Japón)