Title

Falconer. Mural painting from San Baudelio de Berlanga (Soria)

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Object history

The events surrounding the sale of the mural paintings from San Baudelio de Berlanga (Soria) represent one of the most notorious and regrettable episodes in the history of Castile and León’s cultural heritage. Numerous researchers have focused their studies on the building, including Elías Romera, Álvarez y Mélida, Lampérez, Gómez Moreno, Garnelo, Cook, Camón Aznar, Santonja, Navascués, Martínez Ruiz, Teres Navarro, Guardia, among others. Following the discovery and publication of photographs of the hermitage, interest in its sale and export was sparked. (Guardia, 2011).

On 24 June of 1922, the residents of Casillas de Berlanga gathered with Blas Taracena, Secretary of the Soria Commission of Monuments, to inquire about the possibility of selling the paintings inside the hermitage. They revealed that an Italian named Leon Levi had offered 50,000 pesetas for the sale. However, the residents were unsure of the legal ramifications and decided to seek advice before proceeding with the transaction. Levi then raised the offer to 70,000 pesetas and, on 29 June, provided the village’s mayor, Carlos Yubero, with 20,000 pesetas as a down payment. On 3 July, Captain Felipe Pascual Palomo of the Civil Guard was alerted to the presence of foreigners working in the hermitage. Upon his arrival, he questioned two men who named Levi as the person in charge. Although the captain immediately ordered the suspension of all activities and the closure of the hermitage, he later witnessed a car rapidly leaving the village (Martínez Ruiz, 2008). 

Levi’s interest in the murals stemmed from a commission he had received from a French collector, Gabriel Dereppe. Despite concerted efforts by the Soria Commission of Monuments, alongside numerous institutions and scholars, to prevent the final sale of the paintings, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Levi, thereby sanctioning the plunder. Following Dereppe’s acquisition of the murals, they were eventually dispersed across various American collections. In 1952, Elijah B. Martindale purchased part of the collection from Dereppe and gradually donated them. In 1962, he gifted the fragment of St. Nicholas and the Falconer to the Cincinnati Museum.

Description

In addition to the sale of the mural ensemble, one of the most debated aspects is the authorship of the paintings. Post (1930), Cook (1930), and Gudiol (1958) suggested that the work was executed by three artists: the Master of Berlanga, the Master of Maderuelo, and a third master who painted the chapel of the tribune. This fragment, preserved in the Cincinnati Art Museum and located on the right panel, depicts a falconer, whose formal motifs are reminiscent of Andalusian ivory carvings (Guardia, 2011). According to Cook (1955), its composition and the two-dimensional treatment of the figure evoke an enlarged Persian miniature.

Locations

• ca. 1125 - 1922

  hermitage

  Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga, Soria (Spain)

• 1922 - Second quarter of the XX^th c.

  dealer/antiquarian

  Leon Levi / Leone Levi, Venecia/Barcelona. Recorría toda la geografía española en busca de tesoros artísticos (Spain) *

• ca. 1952 - ca. 1962

  private collection

  Elijah B. Martindale and George H. A. Clowes, Indianapolis (United States) *

• ca. 1962 - present

  museum

  Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati (United States)