Title

St. John. Fragment of an altarpiece from San Pedro de Astudillo

painter

Maestro de Cueza [attributed to] (Active in the province of Palencia in the late 15th and early 16th centuries)

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

This panel was part of an altarpiece that no longer exists. We know of four panels from that altarpiece depicting the evangelists: Saint Mark (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond), Saint John (Bob Jones University, Greenville), Saint Luke, and Saint Matthew ( Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore).

The first mention we have of them comes from Ramón Revilla Vielva, who was compiling the Catálogo Monumental de la Provincia de Palencia in the 1940s. In the first volume, covering the districts of Astudillo and Baltanás, he notes that the four panels were in the church of San Pedro de Astudillo (Palencia):“A front piece of painted Castilian panels (15th century) that belonged to another altarpiece was installed there […]. They are no longer there at the time of this printing.” By the time the volume was published in 1951, the panels had disappeared from the church, and in 1952 they were sold on the Barcelona art market. Arcadio Torres Martín, a figure known in his day as an art lover, collaborated with Ramón Revilla Vielva on the catalog. He served as the local head of Civil Protection for the defense of Palencia’s artistic heritage, as well as a diocesan representative for Sacred Art; however, one of his lesser-known roles was, precisely, the sale of works of art (Martínez Ruiz, 2021). He was responsible for the sale of numerous pieces from the Diocese of Palencia, with Revilla Vielva listed as the appraiser. We have no documents allowing us to affirm that Arcadio Torres was behind the removal of these panels; nevertheless, we consider it plausible to suggest such a hypothesis.

Once in Barcelona, they were acquired by José Arnaldo Weissberger, who was in the business of selling works of art (Pérez-Flecha, 2025). His brother, Herbert Weissberger, was also an antique dealer, and both put numerous pieces of Spanish provenance up for sale on the international market from their establishment in Madrid. In 1953, the panels were purchased by Newhouse Galleries, and just one year later they were acquired by Bob Jones University, where they are currently housed in Greenville (United States).

Description

This painting depicts Saint John, who is busy sharpening a reed pen with which to continue writing the book resting on one of his knees—likely his Gospel. Beside him is an eagle, one of his most characteristic iconographic attributes. Also noteworthy is the multi-lobed Gothic wooden tracery that frames the composition.

Locations

• XVI^th c. - Mid XX^th c.

  church

  Church of St Peter, Astudillo, Astudillo (Spain)

• ca. 1949 - ca. 1950

  dealer/antiquarian

  Art market, Barcelona, Barcelona (Spain) *

• ca. 1950 - ca. 1953

  dealer/antiquarian

  José Arnaldo Weissberger, Madrid (Spain) *

• 1953 - ca. 1954

  private collection

  Bertram Newhouse. Newhouse Galleries, New York (United States) *

• ca. 1954 - present

  museum

  Museum & Gallery at Bob Jones University, Greenville (United States)