Title

The Flight into Egypt and The Nativity

painter

Sánchez, Juan [attributed to] (Active between 1440-1470)

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

These two panels were part of the former main altarpiece of the Monastery of Oña (Burgos). The altarpiece was created in two phases: the first during the tenure of Abbot Fray Alonso de Villabráxina, when Juan de Mayorga served as gilder, Fray Pedro as woodcarver, and Juan Sánchez as painter; the second stage covers the period of Abbot Fray Juan Manso, with the paintings from that period attributed to Fray Alonso de Zamora (Silva Maroto, 1990).

There are few references to the altarpiece, notably a painting preserved in the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Burgos, in which half of the altarpiece appears in the background. Thanks to this work, *The Miracle of Saint Íñigo*, further details have come to light: it consisted of five sections, each with five panels on either side, as well as a central panel of carvings topped with a finial, for a total of sixty-six panels (Silva Maroto, 1990). The altarpiece remained in the monastery until 1756, when it was dismantled “to be replaced by the new tabernacle of Saint Íñigo, which now occupies its place” (Silva Maroto, 1990). This information comes from the testimony of Father Barreda, who in 1771 stated that the panels “were distributed among various priory churches to compose their altars” (Herrera, 1971; Silva Maroto, 2011).

Only eighteen of the sixty-six panels that made up the set are known and have been studied (Silva Maroto, 2011): 

• Moses, The Raising of Lazarus, The Road to Calvary, The Crucifixion, The Ascension of Christ, and The Mass of St. Gregory are in the church of San Salvador de Oña (Burgos).
• The Purification of Mary, The Agony in the Garden; Christ Before Pilate, and The Burial of Christ belonged to the collection of the Marquis of Llano, Ramón de la Sota (Bilbao), but their current whereabouts are unknown.
• Saint Andrew, Saint James the Greater, Saint John the Evangelist, and Saint Matthew the Evangelistwere transferred to the church of San Juan de Campo (Burgos), but in 1960 all trace of them was lost, until in 2016 the owners of the panels sought to put them on the market in Paris. To take them to France, they had to apply for an export permit, which was denied in 2017 by the Ministry of Culture. The Ministry acquired the panels, and they are currently housed in the Museum of Burgos.
• The Annunciation, Kneeling Benedictine Saint, Nativity of Christ, and Flight into Egypt passed into the hands of Lino Zaldivar, a resident of Oña. The four panels were part of the 1892 Historical-European Exhibition (Hall 25, Nos. 172–175) and were subsequently dispersed:the Kneeling Benedictine monk remains missing; the Annunciation, meanwhile, went on sale in 2011 at the Theotokópoulos Gallery in Madrid; finally, the panels depicting the Nativity of Christ and the Flight into Egypt ended up in the United States.

The firm French & Company (New York, United States) acquired the Nativity of Christ and the Flight into Egypt in the 1950s. Shortly thereafter, in 1958, both panels were purchased by Bob Jones University (Greenville, United States) thanks to the financial support of Bob Jones, who founded the museum, where they remain today.

Description

These two panels were painted by Juan Sánchez around 1450–1465: to depict the Flight into Egypt, the painter drew on the Apocrypha, which recounts that the palm tree bent down and bore fruit. In the foreground are the figures of Mary, Joseph, and the Child, who holds dates in each hand. Regarding the Nativity, Juan Sánchez draws inspiration from Northern European painting and Flemish artists. He places the Virgin, the Child, and Joseph in a wooden shed. In both panels, the artist depicts Mary wearing a brocade tunic adorned with the fleur-de-lis (Silva Maroto, 1990).

Locations

• Mid XV^th c. - ca. 1756

  monastery

  Monastery of San Salvador de Oña, Oña (Spain)

• Third quarter of the XVIII^th c. - XIX^th c.

  private collection

  Lino Zaldivar, Oña (Spain) *

• ca. 1958

  dealer/antiquarian

  French & Company, New York (United States) *

• ca. 1958 - present

  museum

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