Title
Saint Christopher
Maestro de San Ildefonso [attributed to]
Generic classification
PaintingObject
PaintingDate
ca. 1500Century
Late 15th c.Cultural context / style
Late GothicDimensions
70 5/16 x 26 13/16 inMaterial
PanelTechnique
Oil PaintingIconography / Theme
San CristóbalProvenance
Monastery of Santa María de la Vega, Renedo de la Vega (Renedo de la Vega, Palencia, Spain)Current location
Fogg Museum, Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge [Massachusetts], United States)Inventory Number in Current Collection
1948.35Object history
This panel was part of an altarpiece and was probably located on a side panel or wing of the same. Although Post (1933) first attributed the painting to the school of Palencia, later (1938) he was inclined to attribute the piece to the Master of San Ildefonso, an authorship that is maintained today. This master was active in Castile in the 15th century, so the piece can be placed in this environment. Likewise, a dealer (Post, 1933; Gaya, 1958) affirmed that the piece originally came from the Monastery of Santa María de la Vega, located in Renedo de la Vega (Palencia).
If this was its original location, the piece could have left in many ways. We know that the Napoleonic troops passed through the monastery, expelled the monks and stole as much as they could from inside. Likewise, the disentailment decrees of 1835 declared the community extinct and awarded its assets to the state "ordering their sale and the application of the proceeds to pay off the public debt" (Yáñez, 1987). On the other hand, Torres Balbas (1925) indicated that around 1925 an antiquarian from Alava had visited the monastery and bought the two tombs of the founders. Perhaps, in addition to the tombs, the antiquarian brought with him more pieces, such as this panel of St. Christopher. The theft that was committed in the monastery resulted in the loss of countless works of art, among which was probably this one. Finally, in 1948, the Fogg Museum of Harvard acquired the painting, which is now in Cambridge (Massachusetts).
Description
According to tradition, a child approached Christopher asking him to help him cross a river, but as they progressed the infant became heavier and heavier. When they reached the shore the child revealed that he was Jesus and asked the saint to stick his staff into the ground. Thus a palm tree sprouted. This moment is depicted on the panel: St. Christopher carries a child on his back as he crosses a river and holds a staff that transforms into a palm tree.
Locations
XVth c. - Early XXth c.
ca. 1948 - present
Bibliography
- GAYA NUÑO, Juan Antonio (1958): La pintura española fuera de España (historia y catálogo), Espasa-Calpe, Madrid, p. 93.
- POST, Chandler Rathfon (1938): A History of Spanish Painting, vol. 7 (The Catalan School in the Late Middle Ages), nº 2, Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts), p. 862.
- POST, Chandler Rathfon (1933): A History of Spanish Painting, vol. 4 (The Hispano-Flemish Style in North-Western Spain), nº 1, Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts), p. 193.
- TORRES BALBÁS, Leopoldo (1925): "Las ruinas de Santa María de la Vega (Palencia)", vol. 1, nº 3, Archivo español de arte y arqueología, pp. 317-320.
- YÁÑEZ, Damián (1987): "El Monasterio Cisterciense de Santa María de la Vega", nº 57, Publicaciones de la Institución Tello Téllez de Meneses, pp. 67-102.
Record manager
Isabel Escalera FernándezCitation:
Isabel Escalera Fernández, "Saint Christopher" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/378
Saint Christopher
