- 9
Luis de Morales
Description
- Luis de Morales
- The Virgin and child with the infant St. John the Baptist
- oil on panel, in a tabernacle frame
- 34 by 25.5cm
Provenance
Condition
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
Catalogue Note
There is a further version on the theme in the Museo del Prado, Madrid.1 In that version St. John is on the left and the Virgin is shown placing a veil over the Christ Child who lies asleep in front of her on a pillow.
Morales’ epithet ‘el Divino’, applied to his name since at least the early 18th century, derives in part from the exclusively religious subjects of his oeuvre, but also finds resonance in the character of his paintings, which express the profound spirituality of the artist’s society. A native of Badajoz, in the remote province of Extremadura to the west of Madrid and close to the Portuguese border, Morales specialised in sacred images ranging from small, private devotional panels like the present work, to entire altarpieces, such as the 20 panels depicting the Life of Christ executed in the 1560s, which still make up the high altar of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Arroyo de la Luz, Cáceres. His concentration on themes such as the Virgin and Child echoes the subjects of meditation promoted by contemporary Spanish mystic, Juan de Avila.
In picturing these emotive scenes, Morales pioneered his own highly distinctive style, amalgamating the sfumato modelling and forms of Leonardo with the meticulously precise brushwork associated with the early Netherlandish masters, most probably imparted to the artist through his Flemish-Italianate teacher Peeter de Kempeneer. Morales also had contact with the Portuguese painter Frei Carlos and the Évoran school.
This lot is accompanied by an expertise from Isabel Mateo dating the work to the final phase of Morales' activity.
1. See Todo el Prado, Madrid 1996, p. 53, no. 144, reproduced.