Alonso Berruguete

Don Sebastian Bourbon (1811-1875), Infante of Portugal and Spain;

His estate sale, 3 February 1890, lot 1029 (as Bartolomeo Carducho);

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 30 January 2021, lot 565;

Where acquired.

Born in Northern Spain, the early-sixteenth century painter, sculptor, and architect Alonso González de Berruguete spent his formative years in Florence, where his contact with artists including Michelangelo had a profound effect on his visual language. In this dynamic depiction of the Madonna and Child, Berruguete draws as much from Raphael as from Michelangelo: the figures, whose monumentality echoes the composition’s architectural and sculptural elements, posses an arresting charm that recalls the former’s celebrated depictions of the Holy Family.

Berruguete’s painting features in the background of Vicente Carducho’s Ecstasy of Jean Birelle (Madrid, Museo del Prado, inv. no. P003806), one of over fifty paintings commissioned to honor the founding of the Carthusian Order. The work’s inclusion, in an apparent homage to Berruguete’s enduring artistic legacy, underscores his influence within the canon of Spanish art.

The attribution to Berruguete was previously proposed by Dr. Susana Fernández de Miguel.