Title

Judith with the Head of Holofernes

Berruguete, Alonso [attributed to] [circle of] (Paredes de Nava, ca. 1488 - Toledo, ca. 1561)

Generic classification

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Date

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Cultural context / style

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Provenance

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Inventory Number in Current Collection

Inscriptions / Marks

"ANO DOMI 1553" - "In the year of Our Lord, 1553".

Object history

This relief has been attributed to the circle of Alonso Berruguete, one of the most influential artists of the 16th century in Castile (Parrado, 1981). Some of the characteristics that point to Berruguete include the treatment of anatomy, the various emotions visible on the figures’ faces, and the way the clothing is depicted and rendered (Parrado, 1983; Arias, 2011; Dickerson and McDonald, 2019).

It bears an inscription indicating the year it was created:“ANO DOMI 1553.” It is plausible to think that the relief was part of the base of an altarpiece or perhaps one of the side panels of a tabernacle. Alongside this panel, which depicts a biblical story from the Old Testament— Judith with the head of Holofernes—another panel has been preserved that also appears to come from the same set; it depicts the Sacrifice of Isaac, a passage also taken from the Holy Scriptures.

According to the antique dealer who sold the pieces, both were acquired from a church in Medina del Campo (Valladolid). That town enjoyed exceptional importance during the 16th century: fairs were held there, which allowed it to become one of the major economic and commercial centers of the Crown of Castile; furthermore, its economic activity attracted merchants, bankers, and wealthy families who financed the construction of churches, convents, and residences. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the Palacio de los Dueñas, owned by Diego Beltrán, who was one of the first councilors for the Indies. According to Antero Moyano, a chronicler from Medina del Campo, the palace was decorated with“capitals, arches, and lunettes, featuring very whimsical sculptural ornamentation in the style of Alonso Berruguete”(Moyano, 1891). Similarly, in the second half of the 16th century, prominent artisans worked on the Collegiate Church of San Antolín, including the joiner Joaquín de Troya, the sculptors Cornelis de Holanda and Juan Rodríguez, Isidro Villoldo, and Pedro de Salamanca (García Chico, 1961), some of whom were disciples of Alonso Berruguete. During the first half of the 16th century, numerous decorative projects were carried out in the churches of Medina del Campo; therefore, it would not be surprising if one of the artists mentioned above were responsible for creating these reliefs.

Although we do not know the exact location from which they originated, we do know that in July 1956 the Madrid-based antique dealer Rodríguez y Jiménez sold the two polychrome reliefs to John Hoag, a professor of art history at Yale University. He had commissioned their purchase for the university’s museum, and they are currently housed at the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, United States).

We are grateful for the information provided by Cassidy Hurley, Museum Assistant at the Yale University Art Gallery.

Description

The relief is divided into two parts: the lower part features three putti; two of them, depicted full-length, are positioned on either side, while the one in the center is shown only from the waist up. The main scene unfolds in the upper part, in which the young Judith holds a sword and the head of Holofernes, while a maid assists her on her right. The relief shows some loss of polychromy, as well as several cracks in the lower panel.

Locations

• Mid XVI^th c.

  municipality

  Medina del Campo, Medina del Campo (Spain)

• ca. 1956

  dealer/antiquarian

  Rodríguez and Jiménez, Madrid (Spain) *

• ca. 1956 - present

  museum

  Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven (United States)