Alvar Sanchez Active in Eastern Castile during the second half of the 15th Century

This panel belongs to a group of works given to Alvaro Sanchez recorded during the early 19th century in the Iglesia de San Miguel del Pino, a small town in the province of Valladolid, close to Tordesillas.

The paintings probably originally formed part of more than one retablo by the artist, although the present work clearly belongs to an altarpiece dedicated to the Life of Saint John the Baptist, the facial features of the saint being strikingly similar throughout the narrative. Other scenes from the group include The Preaching of Saint John, The Beheading of Saint John (both of the same format and dimensions to the present work) and a larger, presumably central panel, depicting Saint John Enthroned (see Lafuente Ferrari, under Literature, p. 182 ff., reproduced plates I - V).

For much of the 20th century the artist was known as the 'Maestro de Portillo', however in recent years Prof. Jesus Urrea discovered an inscription on a panel by the same hand, revealing the artist's true name to be Alvar Sanchez.

The attribution to Alvar Sanchez has been endorsed by Prof. Jesus Urrea on the basis of photographs.