Title

Saint Placid, Mass of Saint Gregory and Saint Benedictine

painter

Vázquez, Antonio [attributed to] (¿Ávila?, 1485 - ?, 1563)

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

Angulo (1940) and Post (1947) brought to light the figure of the Master of Portillo, an artist who carried out numerous commissions in what are now the provinces of Ávila and Valladolid. The American researcher attributed these three paintings to him; they likely formed part of the predella of an altarpiece. However, Urrea (2000) asserted that this hypothesis could nolonger be “sustained, since all of their characteristics fully correspond to those of Antonio Vázquez’s style.” This Castilian painter was very prolific and created works for Meneses de Campos (Palencia), Simancas (Valladolid), and Valdenebro de los Valles (Valladolid), among others (Brasas, 1985; Brasas, 1987).

Since the publication of the monograph on Antonio Vázquez (Brasas, 1985), there have been numerous and almost continuous discoveries regarding his work (Martín González, 1957; Caamaño, 1970; Díaz, 1983; Mateo, 1984). One of the most recent studies was that of Urrea (2000), who pointed out that this predella had been erroneously attributed and that its style was more consistent with that of Vázquez. The painter’s extensive body of work was due, in large part, to his workshop, a fact evident in the quality of the works and the repetition of compositional schemes. If we consider the predella, the figures of Saint Gregory and Saint Placid are reminiscent of the human types depicted by Vázquez in "Christ Takes Himself Off the Cross to Embrace Saint Bernard" (private collection, Valladolid); on the other hand, the Benedictine saint is reminiscent of Saint Elizabeth in "The Visitation" (Columbia Museum of Art, United States).

The provenance of the piece is unknown, but given the locations where Vázquez and his workshop carried out commissions, it seems likely that it was in what is now the province of Valladolid. The dispersal of the predella may have been caused, as in so many other cases, by the confiscation of monasteries and parish churches. In the mid-20th century, Gaya Nuño cited a predella in issue 107 of his catalog La pintura española fuera de España as follows:“In the center, the Mass of St. Gregory; on the left, a Benedictine saint; on the right, a saint with a book and a jug” (Gaya, 1958). He considered it to be the work of a Castilian workshop and located it in the Cathedral of Bordeaux (France). Subsequently, Urrea (2000), upon analyzing the predella, confirmed that it was located in the sacristy of that cathedral.

Description

The side panels of the predella depict two Benedictine saints. Most likely, Saint Placid and Saint Gertrude of Nivelles or Saint Flavia (Urrea, 2000). In the center is Saint Gregory the Great, who has paused the Eucharist because Christ has appeared. The composition is simple, and the figures are well-balanced. Likewise, the serene landscape is reminiscent of other works by Vázquez, such as Saint Sebastian and Saint Roch (Wellcome Collection, London) or the Virgin and Child with Saint John the Younger.

Locations

• XVI^th c.

  province

  Possible origin in the province of Valladolid, Valladolid (Spain)

• XX^th c. - present

  cathedral

  St Andrew’s Cathedral, Bordeaux, Burdeos (France)