Title

King Hezekiah

painter

Maestro de Valdescorriel [attributed to] (Active in Zamora 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

Post (1933; 1938) attributed this panel to the Master of Palanquinos; however, Ballesté (2017; 2019) refuted this hypothesis and, instead, attributed it to the Master of Valdescorriel. This painter was active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries in the Benavente area, and his presence is documented in the parish church of that town (Grande, 2022). The similarities between this work and the Altarpiece of the Virgin of Mayorga de Campos (Valladolid) led Cuesta (2010) to believe that the Master of Valdescorriel participated in its creation alongside the workshop of the master from León. However, there is insufficient evidence to support this claim. Thus, the Master of Valdescorriel’s involvement can only be proven in the Benavente area and its surroundings. 

The resemblance of this painting to the prophets on the altarpiece panel in the parish church of El Salvador in Valdescorriel seems to confirm Ballesté’s (2017) hypothesis, allowing the panel to be located in the province of Zamora. At the end of the 16th century, a shift in taste led to the replacement of painted altarpieces with sculptural ones (Fiz, 2015; Fiz, 2021). It should also be noted that, beginning in the mid-19th century, many of the works from Zamora were sold off (Martínez, 2017), and this may well be yet another such case.  

We do not know when it left its place of origin, but it was sold under the title“Prophet Isaiah”at the Galerie Kleinberger and Co. in Paris in the 1930s (Post, 1938; Gaya Nuño, 1958; Franco Mata, 2010). A few years later, in January 1947, it was auctioned at the New York location of Parke Bernet Galleries (lot no. 830). It was likely at that time that Charles J. Rosenbloom and his wife acquired the panel, donating it in 1969 to the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh (United States). The museum currently lists the panel as “anonymous Spanish.”

Description

This panel depicts King Hezekiah richly attired, wearing a jewel-encrusted hat. In his right hand, he holds a phylactery wrapped around him, on which the following is inscribed:“Ego dixi: In dimidio dierum meorum vadam ad portas inferi”(I said: In the middle of my days I will go to the gates of Sheol). This verse is taken from Isaiah 38:10 and refers to the moment when the prophet Isaiah visits King Hezekiah, who is gravely ill. Although it is not entirely clear, the object resting on the ledge could be Ahaz’s clock, one of Hezekiah’s attributes. This painting is reminiscent of other works by the Master of Valdescorriel, particularly the prophets on the main altarpiece of the parish church of Valdescorriel (Zamora). 

Locations

• Last quarter of the XV^th c.

  province

  Possible origin from Zamora, Zamora (Spain)

• Second quarter of the XX^th c.

  dealer/antiquarian

  F. Kleinberger Galleries, New York (United States) *

• ca. 1947 - 1947

  auction house

  Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York (United States)

• ca. 1947 - ca. 1969

  private collection

  Sr. y Sra. Charles J. Rosenbloom, Pittsburgh (United States) *

• ca. 1969 - present

  museum

  Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburg (United States)