Attributed to Gaspar Becerra Baeza 1520-1570 Madrid

This painting can be compared with a Pietà ascribed to Becerra in the Museu de Belles Arts de Valencia.  A striking similarity can be seen in the depiction of the figure of Christ and in the facial types of the figures.

Becerra was both a painter and sculptor and an important figure in Spanish art in the third quarter of the 16th century.  He travelled to Italy around 1545 and, according to Vasari, was one of his assistants on his commission to paint scenes from the Life of Paul III for a room of the Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome (later known as the Sala dei Cento Giorni).  Becerra also painted the Birth of the Virgin (1548-53) in the della Rovere Chapel in Trinità dei Monti in Rome under the guidance of Daniele da Volterra, another of Michelangelo's pupils.  Becerra returned to Spain by 1558 and in 1562 was appointed Pintor del Rey.  He is credited with introducing to Spain Michelangelo's painting style, with its emphasis on anatomical accuracy and the use of foreshortening.