Title
The Crucifixion and the Descent from the Cross
Antonio Vázquez [attributed to] (¿Ávila?, 1485 - ?, 1563)
Maestro de Mambrillas [attributed to] (Active in Burgos)
Generic classification
PaintingObject
PaintingDate
ca. 1530Century
Second quarter of the 16th c.Cultural context / style
Late GothicDimensions
25 x 36,7 inMaterial
PanelProvenance
Possible origin in the province of Valladolid (Valladolid, Spain)Current location
Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, United Kingdom)Inventory Number in Current Collection
WA1918.1Object history
Originally Post (1947) attributed these panels to the Master of Mambrillas, however, this attribution has been disputed and it is now believed that their author was Antonio Vázquez. This painter, probably a native of Avila, carried out numerous works in the old diocese of Palencia, which at that time belonged to a good part of the province of Valladolid: Simancas, Piña de Esgueva, Valdenebro de los Valles, etc. Therefore, both panels, placed in the predella of an altarpiece, have their origin somewhere in the present province of Valladolid.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries numerous retablos were replaced by more modern ones, which caused many pieces to be dispersed (Urrea, 2022). The shamans and antique dealers of the 19th and 20th centuries soon got their hands on this type of panels, causing their subsequent sale and departure (Urrea, 2000). It is unknown how and when this piece was sold, but it must have been at the end of the 19th century, since it was acquired by the English mathematician Florence Tebb. Subsequently, Tebb bequeathed the piece in 1918 to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, where it remains today.
Description
Both panels were probably part of the predella of an altarpiece. Two scenes are represented: the Crucifixion and the Descent from the Cross. In the former, Christ is accompanied by two figures: the Virgin and Saint John; in the Descent from the Cross, the Virgin and Saint John appear again on the left side, while on the right are Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea. Although it was originally attributed to the Master of Mambrillas, in the composition one can observe characteristics typical of Antonio Vázquez, such as the Flemish and serene landscape style, the simple composition and the balanced figures.
Locations
Second quarter of the XVIth c.
Early XXth c. - 1918
private collection
Walter Frank Raphael Weldon and Florence Tebb, Cambridge (United Kingdom) *
ca. 1918 - present
Bibliography
- BRASAS EGIDO, José Carlos (1985): El pintor Antonio Vázquez, Institución Cultural Simancas, Valladolid.
- CAAMAÑO MARTÍNEZ, Jesús María (1970): "Antonio Vázquez (Nuevos comentarios y obras)", nº 36, BSAA.
- DÍAZ PADRÓN, Matías (1983): "Nuevas tablas de Antonio Vázquez en colecciones españolas", nº 175, Goya.
- MARTÍN GONZÁLEZ, Juan José (1957): "En torno al pintor Antonio Vázquez: nuevas obras", Archivo Español de Arte.
- POST, Chandler Rathfon (1947): A History of Spanish Painting, vol. 9 (The Beginning of the Renaissance in Castile and Leon), nº 1, Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts).
- URREA FERNÁNDEZ, Jesús y VALDIVIESO GONZÁLEZ, Enrique (2022): Rescatar el pasado. Retablos vallisoletanos perdidos, alterados o desplazados, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid.
- URREA, Jesús (2000): "Contribución al catálogo del pintor Antonio Vázquez", nº 4, Boletín del Museo Nacional de Escultura.
Record manager
Isabel Escalera FernándezCitation:
Isabel Escalera Fernández, "The Crucifixion and the Descent from the Cross" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/374
The Crucifixion and the Descent from the Cross
