Title
Saint Michael
Ronza, Gil de [attributed to] (Ronse, ca. 1483 - Zamora, ca. 1534)
Generic classification
SculptureObject
SculptureDate
ca. 1522-1525Century
First quarter of the 16th c.Cultural context / style
Late GothicDimensions
73 1/2 inMaterial
WoodIconography / Theme
San MiguelProvenance
Convent of San Francisco, Zamora (Zamora, Spain)Current location
The Cloisters. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, United States)Inventory Number in Current Collection
53.65Object history
The provenance of this sculpture was unknown until José Ángel Rivera de las Heras demonstrated that it came from the convent of San Francisco de Zamora, specifically from the chapel of Dean Diego Vázquez de Cepeda (Rivera de las Heras, 1998; Rivera de las Heras, 2019). The construction of the canon's funerary chapel began in 1523 and was carried out by Juan Gil de Hontañón and Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón (Martí y Monsó, 1907; Vecilla, 1995). Vázquez de Cepeda died before seeing it finished, however, in the document relating to his last wishes he detailed which sculptures had already been completed. There were five in total and they had been commissioned to the sculptor Gil de Ronza.
In the contract signed in Zamora on November 21, 1521 between the dean and the French stonemason Ardoin de Avineo, regarding the construction and ornamentation of the funerary chapel-preserved in the Archive of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid (Pleitos Civiles. Taboada. Fenecidos. Caja 1157. Exp. 1)-it was established that "más adelante fagan otra cavaña para en que venga señor Sant Myguel e la muerte" (Rivera de las Heras, 2019). In addition, the canon's will specified the following: "Yten de la otra parte de la puerta que se ha de abrir debaxo del altar mayor de la capilla mayor de Sant Francisco, entrando por ella en la dicha my capilla a mano derecha entrante luego, está una cavaña donde a destar señor Sant Myguel, y en la mesma cabaña, al otro lado más baxo, la muerte, a mano derecha del dicho Sant Myguel; this is all done and painted au natural, as I have them in my house, and to destar put as I discussed it with master Gil, done and painted and paid for everything" (Rivera de las Heras, 2019).
The carving referring to Death is preserved in the National Museum of Sculpture (Valladolid), however, the sculpture of San Miguel met another fate after the exclaustration of the convent. It is not known how or when it was exported from the country, but during the first third of the 20th century it was in the hands of Michelle Schutz, an antique dealer based in Paris (Rivera de las Heras, 2019). He sold the piece in 1937 to Joseph Brummer, who had opened first in Paris and then in New York the Brummer Gallery. After Brummer's death in 1947 his collection was dispersed, with numerous objects being sold in 1949 by Parke-Benet Galleries, such as this sculpture. In the auction catalog it is listed in lot 504 as follows:
Carved and Polychromed Statue of S. Michael and the Dragon, of Important Size. Spanish, XVI Century.
Stalwart figure of the archangel in full armor with skirt of chain mail, and wearing a crimson and blue cloak. He is leaning slightly to the left as he stands upon the prostrate fragmentary figure of the vanquished dragon. Has walnut pedestal.
This piece was acquired by Paula de Koenigsberg through her art gallery: Le Passé. Koenigsberg eventually sold the sculpture to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1953, and it is now in The Cloisters.
Description
The carving represents Saint Michael as an elegant young man. He wears a warrior's armor on which rests a wide mantle that falls down his back and is gathered over his left shoulder. Under his feet he subdues the devil, whose winged figure is damaged, missing his head. In the right hand he would have held a spear with which he pierces the devil, while in the left hand he would carry a scale for the judgment of the souls. According to Rivera de las Heras (2019), the delicacy of the face, the anatomical rigidity of the hands and the careful modeling of the folds of the mantle evidence the authorship of Gil de Ronza.
Locations
ca. 1522 - ca. 1835
First quarter of the XXth c. - 1937
dealer/antiquarian
Michelle Schutz, Paris (France) *
1937 - ca. 1949
dealer/antiquarian
Joseph Brummer, New York (United States) *
ca. 1949
auction house
Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York (United States)
ca. 1949 - ca. 1953
dealer/antiquarian
Le Passé, New York (United States) *
1953 - present
Bibliography
- MARTÍ Y MONSÓ, José (1907): "La capilla del deán D. Diego Vázquez de Cepeda en el monasterio de San Francisco de Zamora", nº 3, Boletín de la Sociedad Castellana de Excursiones.
- PARKE-BERNET GALLERIES (1949): Part Two of the notable art collection belonging to the estate of the late Joseph Brummer, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Nueva York, p. 126.
- RIVERA DE LAS HERAS, José Ángel (2018): "Nuevas atribuciones al escultor Gil de Ronza y su taller", nº 18, Studia Zamorensia, pp. 97-98.
- RIVERA DE LAS HERAS, José Ángel (1998): En torno al escultor Gil de Ronza, Diputación de Zamora, Zamora.
Record manager
Isabel Escalera FernándezCitation:
Isabel Escalera Fernández, "Saint Michael" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/418
