Saint Bartholomew before the Emperor - Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

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Saint Bartholomew before the Emperor

Anonymous, Aragonese

Second half of the 15th century

Tempera on panel

80.5 x 65 cm

c. 1450-1480

15th century. Second half

69/52

Acquired in 1959

In the foreground there is an arch which ushers us into the action. On the right is the Holy Apostle Bartholomew wearing a red tunic and a brocade cloak, accompanied by three men talking with King Polymius, whose status is signalled by his clothing. Polymius is carrying a command staff in his left hand and is accompanied by two male figures depicted next to him on the left side of the composition. The saint is trying to convince him to convert to the Christian faith and thus to let the figure of the idol Astaroth on a tall pedestal in the centre of the room fall. Another identical small figure is fleeing from Astaroth's figure, symbolising the devil that inhabited it.

In the background of the painting, we see architectural elements in the Gothic style, such as the springers of the ribbed vaults. The clothing worn by the figures is interesting, as it may help us to date the painting.

The action takes place indoors; hence the role played by architecture, which makes it necessary to combine more elements, thus complicating their organisation in space. However, the author does display some compositional boldness in his arrangement of arches, walls, columns and figures. The perspective is achieved via the representation of the architecture and the placement of the figures stacked on top of each other to create a sense of spatial distance, as we can see in the group on the right.

The figures are communicating via hand and eye gestures directed towards the centre, where the miracle is happening. In this sense, we should note that some hands are somewhat clumsily rendered, especially the hand of the figure peeking out in the group on the upper right. (Ana Galilea)

Selected bibliography

  • Post, Chandler Rathfon. A History of Spanish Painting. Harvard, Harvard University Press, 1930-1966. Vol. VII, Part. I, pp. 142-145.
  • Lasterra, Crisanto de. Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : catálogo descriptivo : sección de arte antiguo. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1969. p. 24, n° cat. 52. (Con el título San Bartolomé ante el Emperador, y atribuido a Arnaut Castelnou de Navalles)
  • Galilea Antón, Ana María. Catalogación y estudio de los fondos de Pintura Española del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao del siglo XIII al XVIII (de 1270 a 1700) [tesis inédita]. 1993. pp. 268-274. (Con el título San Bartolomé ante el Emperador, y atribuido a Anónimo aragonés de la segunda mitad del siglo XV)
  • Galilea Antón, Ana María. Catalogación y estudio de los fondos de Pintura Española del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao del siglo XIII al XVIII (de 1270 a 1700) [tesis inédita]. 1993. p. 142, fig. 88. (Con el título 'San Bartolomé ante el Emperador', y como Anónimo Aragonés de la segunda mitad del siglo XV)
  • Galilea Antón, Ana María. "La colección de Pintura Española anterior a 1700 en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao", Urtekaria 1994 : asterlanak, albistak = Anuario 1994 : estudios, crónicas. 1995. pp. 21, 24, 41. (Con el título San Bartolomé ante el Emperador, y atribuido a ANÓNIMO ARAGONÉS DE LA SEGUNDA MITAD DEL SIGLO XV)..
  • Galilea Antón, Ana María. La pintura gótica española en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : catálogo. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1995. pp. 180-185. (Con el título ”San Bartolomé ante el Emperador”, y como Anónimo aragonés de la segunda mitad del siglo XV)
  • Ellsworth Hamann, Byron. "Producing Idols ", Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture, Vol. 1, n° 1. January 2019. p. 26, il.
  • Ellsworth Hamann, Byron. Bad Christians, New Spains : Muslims, Catholics, and Native Americans in a Mediterratlantic World. London, Routledge, 2019. pp. 171, 174, il.