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Joan de Borgonya (doc. 1496-1525)
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Description
Joan de Borgonya (doc. 1496-1525)
"The Nativity"
Oil on oak panel. Circa 1485-1505. 129 x 91 cm.
According to the report written by Dr. Alberto Velasco Gonzàlez, this work is one of the most important examples of Renaissance painting of the Crown of Aragon to have come to light in recent years. It is a previously unknown compartment from an altarpiece depicting the Nativity, which must be attributed to the painter Joan de Borgonya, one of the most representative masters of painting from Catalonia in the first quarter of the 16th century. The painting is highly dramatic due to the treatment of the perspective, the richness of the details and the complex classicist design of the architecture depicted. It should be included in the catalogue of the painter's work and also be considered one of his highest quality paintings.
The classical-style architecture in the form of a symbolic ruin, which occupies a large part of the pictorial surface of the panel and takes a central role in the composition, is outstanding. The painter has depicted a true architectural forest of columns, entablatures and truncated pilasters that make up a labyrinth that aims to show dynamic structures that guide the viewer to the landscape in the background, and does so from the diagonals that are traced by the cornices positioned at the mid-height of the composition. It is an exercise in skill which has a dramatic and effective result. This special and unmistakable treatment is one of the aspects that is most decisive in attributing the painting to Joan de Borgonya, since it reappears in an identical manner in other of his works, such as the iconic Our Lady with the Monkey in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (Foto 1), or in an Annunciation recently acquired by the Generalitat de Catalunya and kept at the aforementioned Catalan museum.
The landscape takes on the appearance of a river bay represented with attention to detail and meticulousness, including isolated depictions of characters and episodes that give meaning and substance to the painting. Joan de Borgonya revels in this narrative complexity and in this type of detail in his peopled landscapes, which ends up becoming one of the most particular aspects of his art.
Another aspect to highlight is that the work was painted on oak wood, just the same material that was used in the aforementioned paintings in the MNAC museum in Barcelona. This is not a trivial detail, since Joan de Borgonya was a master of Nordic origin who must have felt comfortable with this material and continued to use it after his arrival in Valencia, where he lived between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th. From his years in Valencia, only the six panels of the Altarpiece of Saint Andrew painted for the church of Miracle in Valencia are preserved. They are currently kept in the cathedral and in a private collection. Around 1508-1509 the painter had to leave Valencia and moved to Catalonia, where he produced works such as the Altarpiece of the Magdalena of the monastery of Santes Creus (Tarragona), and the missing main altarpiece of Santa María del Pi (Barcelona), which has now disappeared. We must also mention the altarpiece dedicated to Saint Sebastian for the town of Sitges, which is not preserved; various works for the Lleida town of Bellpuig, where two panels with Saint Gregory the Great and Saint Jerome are kept; the polychrome of the backrests of the choir of the cathedral of Barcelona on the occasion of the celebration of the 19th meeting of the Order of the Golden Fleece; the main altarpiece of the church of San Félix in Girona, of which a series of compartments are kept in the Museu d'Art de Girona; the Altarpiece of Santa Úrsula for Girona Cathedral, of which the main panel is kept in the Girona Museum; and the altarpieces for the towns of Horta de Sant Joan (Tarragona) and Arenys de Lledó (Teruel), of which some panels from the latter remain. The painter must have died circa 1526.
Dr. Alberto Velasco Gonzàlez's report is attached.
Origin: private collection.
Bibliography on the painting: This painting was unknown until recently.
Bibliography on the painter:
- Adele Condorelli, “Un ritratto firmato: Opus Johanes Burgundi”, Commentari, 16, 196, pp. 77-84.
- Nicole Dacos, “Federico Zeri et l’excentrique. Joan de Burgunya en Italie”, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, CXXXV, 2000, pp. 109-116.
- Joaquim Garriga, “Biogr. 1. Joan de Borgonya. Notícies 1503-1525 (†)”, Joan Bosch and Joaquim Garriga (dirs.), De Flandes a Itàlia. El canvi de model en la pintura catalana del segle XVI: el bisbat de Girona, Girona, Museu d’Art de Girona, 1998, pp. 175-177.
- Joaquim Garriga, “Joan de Borgonya, pintor del XIXº capítulo de la orden del Toisón de Oro”, E. Belenguer Cebrià (coord.), De la unión de coronas al imperio de Carlos V. Congreso Internacional, Madrid, Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoración de los Centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, 2001, vol. 3, pp. 121-180.
Joan Hilari Muñoz, “El pintor Joan de Borgonya al bisbat de Tortosa: els retaules d’Horta de Sant Joan i Arenys de Lledó”, Boletín de la Sociedad Castellonense de Cultura, LXXXII, 2006, pp. 307-321.
This lot has been declared "Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC)" (Good of Cultural Interest) by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, therefore we inform you that it is not allowed to be exported.
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Joan de Borgonya (doc. 1496-1525)
"The Nativity"
Oil on oak panel. Circa 1485-1505. 129 x 91 cm.
According to the report written by Dr. Alberto Velasco Gonzàlez, this work is one of the most important examples of Renaissance painting of the Crown of Aragon to have come to light in recent years. It is a previously unknown compartment from an altarpiece depicting the Nativity, which must be attributed to the painter Joan de Borgonya, one of the most representative masters of painting from Catalonia in the first quarter of the 16th century. The painting is highly dramatic due to the treatment of the perspective, the richness of the details and the complex classicist design of the architecture depicted. It should be included in the catalogue of the painter's work and also be considered one of his highest quality paintings.
The classical-style architecture in the form of a symbolic ruin, which occupies a large part of the pictorial surface of the panel and takes a central role in the composition, is outstanding. The painter has depicted a true architectural forest of columns, entablatures and truncated pilasters that make up a labyrinth that aims to show dynamic structures that guide the viewer to the landscape in the background, and does so from the diagonals that are traced by the cornices positioned at the mid-height of the composition. It is an exercise in skill which has a dramatic and effective result. This special and unmistakable treatment is one of the aspects that is most decisive in attributing the painting to Joan de Borgonya, since it reappears in an identical manner in other of his works, such as the iconic Our Lady with the Monkey in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (Foto 1), or in an Annunciation recently acquired by the Generalitat de Catalunya and kept at the aforementioned Catalan museum.
The landscape takes on the appearance of a river bay represented with attention to detail and meticulousness, including isolated depictions of characters and episodes that give meaning and substance to the painting. Joan de Borgonya revels in this narrative complexity and in this type of detail in his peopled landscapes, which ends up becoming one of the most particular aspects of his art.
Another aspect to highlight is that the work was painted on oak wood, just the same material that was used in the aforementioned paintings in the MNAC museum in Barcelona. This is not a trivial detail, since Joan de Borgonya was a master of Nordic origin who must have felt comfortable with this material and continued to use it after his arrival in Valencia, where he lived between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th. From his years in Valencia, only the six panels of the Altarpiece of Saint Andrew painted for the church of Miracle in Valencia are preserved. They are currently kept in the cathedral and in a private collection. Around 1508-1509 the painter had to leave Valencia and moved to Catalonia, where he produced works such as the Altarpiece of the Magdalena of the monastery of Santes Creus (Tarragona), and the missing main altarpiece of Santa María del Pi (Barcelona), which has now disappeared. We must also mention the altarpiece dedicated to Saint Sebastian for the town of Sitges, which is not preserved; various works for the Lleida town of Bellpuig, where two panels with Saint Gregory the Great and Saint Jerome are kept; the polychrome of the backrests of the choir of the cathedral of Barcelona on the occasion of the celebration of the 19th meeting of the Order of the Golden Fleece; the main altarpiece of the church of San Félix in Girona, of which a series of compartments are kept in the Museu d'Art de Girona; the Altarpiece of Santa Úrsula for Girona Cathedral, of which the main panel is kept in the Girona Museum; and the altarpieces for the towns of Horta de Sant Joan (Tarragona) and Arenys de Lledó (Teruel), of which some panels from the latter remain. The painter must have died circa 1526.
Dr. Alberto Velasco Gonzàlez's report is attached.
Origin: private collection.
Bibliography on the painting: This painting was unknown until recently.
Bibliography on the painter:
- Adele Condorelli, “Un ritratto firmato: Opus Johanes Burgundi”, Commentari, 16, 196, pp. 77-84.
- Nicole Dacos, “Federico Zeri et l’excentrique. Joan de Burgunya en Italie”, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, CXXXV, 2000, pp. 109-116.
- Joaquim Garriga, “Biogr. 1. Joan de Borgonya. Notícies 1503-1525 (†)”, Joan Bosch and Joaquim Garriga (dirs.), De Flandes a Itàlia. El canvi de model en la pintura catalana del segle XVI: el bisbat de Girona, Girona, Museu d’Art de Girona, 1998, pp. 175-177.
- Joaquim Garriga, “Joan de Borgonya, pintor del XIXº capítulo de la orden del Toisón de Oro”, E. Belenguer Cebrià (coord.), De la unión de coronas al imperio de Carlos V. Congreso Internacional, Madrid, Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoración de los Centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, 2001, vol. 3, pp. 121-180.
Joan Hilari Muñoz, “El pintor Joan de Borgonya al bisbat de Tortosa: els retaules d’Horta de Sant Joan i Arenys de Lledó”, Boletín de la Sociedad Castellonense de Cultura, LXXXII, 2006, pp. 307-321.
This lot has been declared "Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC)" (Good of Cultural Interest) by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, therefore we inform you that it is not allowed to be exported.
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