The Flagellation of Saint Engracia - Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

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The Flagellation of Saint Engracia

Bermejo, Bartolomé

Cordova, c. 1440-Barcelona, c. 1501

Oil on panel

92.5 x 52 cm

c. 1474-1477

Last third of the 15th century

69/35

Acquired in 1962

The magnificent, evocative panel depicting The Flagellation of Saint Engracia is a paradigmatic expression of the oeuvre of Bartolomé Bermejo, probably the most brilliant Spanish painter from the late Gothic. The scene used to be part of an altarpiece -whose compartments are now scattered among different museums in the United States and Spain- devoted to the passion of this legendary martyr from the Palaeo-Christian era, who has especially been venerated in Zaragoza since the second half of the 15th century. Thanks to the recent discoveries by Javier Ibáñez outlined in the catalogue of the monographic exhibition on Bermejo from the Prado Museum and the MNAC (2018), we can now assert that the altarpiece came from a chapel in San Pedro de Daroca parish church (Zaragoza). The earliest information on its promotion dates back to 1462, when Juana Fernández, the wife of a notary in the town, stated in her will that 200 sueldos should be given to have an altarpiece devoted to the young martyr made. Even though the document was revoked one year later, it is likely the lady from Daroca decided to revisit the project, given that the altarpiece ended up being made between 1472 and 1477, the period when Bermejo was living in this town in Aragon. The work must have made a major impact among the viewers from his day: indeed, the contract for the altarpiece in the nearby town of Romanos, signed by other painters in 1501, stipulated that a figure of Saint Catherine had to "be dressed in fabrics of good colours like the Sancta Engracia in Sant Pedro de Daroca, brimming with gold".

In the scene of the saint's martyrdom, Bartolomé Bermejo excels precisely in the application of a varied palette of bright colours (greens, reds, purples, carmines, golds, etc.) in the human figures' clothing and the architectural elements. This was, in fact, one of the hallmarks of his pictorial language, the one that defines all of his most personal works, from Saint Michael of Tous (1468) to Pieta of Canon Luis Desplà (1490). Another unique feature was unquestionably his wholehearted focus on realism in every single aspect of the painting. To verify this, all a spectator has to do is look at the illusionistic re-creation of the veils on the martyr's headpiece; the golden crown decorated with precious stones; the brilliant, polished porphyry shafts of the columns; and the ceramic tile flooring decorated with eight-pointed stars, acrostics and flowers. No other Spanish master from his era was capable of achieving such lifelike visual effects as the ones we see here. Bermejo's secret was his mastery of the technique of oil painting and the development of its aesthetic possibilities, a formula that allowed him to depict everything from the impression of transparency to the suggestion of volume, as well as to endow objects with an extremely subtle shine and luminosity in the textures of clothing, the burnishing of metals or the backgrounds of landscapes. In short, it gave him the possibility of yielding illusionistic effects similar to those which the Flemish painters had taken to unheard-of heights since the era of Jan van Eyck and Robert Campin.

In the panel in Daroca, the combination between fantastical colours and a tactile sense is essential in grasping the fascinating visual tradition embodied in a series of sophisticated garments, accessories and objects, most of which were inspired by the refined Nasrid material culture. This is the origin of the tunic worn by the merciless Dacian, with its pseudo-Kufic filigreed decorations, and especially his turban based on textiles with stripes and fringe, his straps and his boots. The Andalusian origin also affects the Corinthian-style capitals, which are decorated with pseudo-cylindrical motifs, the wooden throne with marquetry inlays from the Roman magistracy and the pavement based on escarabadets, Valencian tiles of different shape and colour. The result of all of this is thoroughly eye-catching. Thanks to an illusionistic use of the technique of oil painting, the hagiographic drama of the saint's martyrdom has been transformed into a sumptuous, brilliant visual spectacle with Hispano-Moresque echoes.

Far from any concern with geometric perspective, Bermejo designed the composition based on the interactions among the main characters in the scene: their attitudes, their gestures and their facial expressions. In this sense, the elegant Dacian stands out, with his indolent gesture of crossing his legs; the distracted man in the red cap, a variation of a model from Bermejo's figurative repertoire; the mysterious individual in the background, wearing a hat similar to the ones worn by some Jews; and, of course, the saint, whose back was originally full of lashes and bloody wounds, which must have given her a kind of expressionistic feel. Her gesticulating tormentor also contributes to this mood and serves as a veritable nexus of compositional union for the entire group. The executioner is not only dressed in buffoon-like clothing which contrasts with the sophisticated raiment of the other characters, but he is also wearing a blouson that is indecently open at his chest. Obviously, Bermejo used these features to portray him negatively, almost demoniacally, an iconography that is so clear that it actually offended some of the devout viewers so much that they scratched up his face. They were more indulgent with the monster with batwings depicted on a corbel in the back of the room. Is this a whimsical detail or a decoration that alludes to the diabolical nature of Dacian's palace? Perhaps both. In any event, this is yet another example of Bartolomé Bermejo's fascinating, rich pictorial universe and his inexhaustible ability to surprise and question us. [Joan Molina Figueras]

Selected bibliography

  • Post, Chandler Rathfon. A History of Spanish Painting. Harvard, Harvard University Press, 1930-1966. Vol. VIII, Part. II, pp. 703-709.
  • Angulo Íñiguez, Diego. "The Flagellation of St. Engracia by Bartolomé Bermejo", Art in América. 1939. pp. 155-160.
  • Lasterra, Crisanto de. Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : catálogo descriptivo : sección de arte antiguo. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1969. p. 16, n° cat. 35. (Con el título Flagelación de Santa Engracia, y atribuido a BERMEJO, Bartolomé).
  • Arean, Carlos Antonio. La pintura española : de Altamira al siglo XX. Madrid, Giner, 1971. p.105.
  • Blanch, Monserrat. El arte gótico en España = Gothic art in Spain = L'art gothique en Espagne = Gotische Kunst in Spanien. Barcelona, Poligrafa, 1972. pp. 322-323.
  • Berg Sobré, Judith. "S. Engracia Revisited", Fenway Court. 1980. pp. 38-39.
  • Galilea Antón, Ana María. "Bartolomé Bermejo y el retablo de Santa Engracia : estado de la cuestión", Urtekaria 1989 : asterlanak, albistak = Anuario 1989 : estudios, crónicas. 1990. pp. 13-33. (títulada La Flagelación de Santa Engracia, y atribuida a Bartolomé Bermejo)
  • 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. 391-405. (Con el título La Flagelación de Santa Engracia, y atribuido a Bartolomé Bermejo)
  • 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. 206-208, figs. 132, 132a, 132b. (Con el título 'La Flagelación de Santa Engracia', y atribuido a Bartolomé Bermejo)
  • 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, 28, 42. (Con el título La Flagelación de Santa Engracia, y atribuido a Bartolomé BERMEJO)..
  • 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. 268-281. (Con el título ”La Flagelación de Santa Engracia”, y atribuido a Bartolomé Bermejo)
  • Berg Sobré, Judith ; M. F. Bosch, Lynette. "Bartolomé de Cárdenas, also called Bertolomé Bermejo", The Artistic Splendor of the Spanish Kingdoms : The Art of Fifteenth-Century Spain. 1996. pp. 14-18.
  • Spanyol mestermuvek a Bilbaói Szépmuvészeti Múzeumból [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao ; Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, 1996. p. 32.
  • Berg-Sobré, Judith. Bartolomé de Cárdenas ”El Bermejo” : pintor errante en la Corona de Aragón. San Francisco, 1997. p. 70, fig. 20.
  • Zugaza, Miguel ... [et al.]. Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : maestros antiguos y modernos. Bilbao, Fundación Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa = Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa Fundazioa, 1999. pp. 62-63.
  • Carolus [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoración de los Centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, 2000. p. 228.
  • Zugaza, Miguel ... [et al.]. Maestros antiguos y modernos en las colecciones del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2001. p. 17.
  • "Museo del Mes, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao", La Aventura de la Histora, n° 41. 2002. p. 123.
  • Rebora, Gianni ; Rovera, Giacomo ; Bocchiotti, Giandomenico. Bartolomé Bermejo e Il Trittico di Acqui. Acqui Terme, L´Ancora, 2003. pp. 62-63, 67, n° 29.
  • Bilbao a Genova : la cultura cambia le città [Cat. exp.]. Milano, Skira, 2003. p. 69.
  • La pintura gótica hispanoflamenca : Bartolomé Bermejo y su época [Cat. exp.]. Barcelona ; Bilbao, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya ; Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2003. pp. 22-23, 34-35, 102, 141, 147, 148-159, 522-523, n° cat. 7. (Con el título 'Flagelación de santa Engracia', y atribuido a Bartolomé Bermejo)
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 20.
  • "Un paseo por la Historia del Arte", Pérgola. 08/2008.
  • El esplendor del Renacimiento en Aragón [Cat. exp.]. Zaragoza ; Bilbao ; Valencia, Gobierno de Aragón ; Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao ; Generalitat Valenciana, 2009. pp. 136-137, 290-295.
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. p. 19, n° cat. 8.
  • Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. p. 19, n° cat. 8.
  • Ruiz i Quesada, Francesc. "De Acqui Terme a la Piedad Desplà : textos e iconografías inéditos de Bartolomé Bermejo", Retrotabulum : estudis d'art medieval, n° 1. 2012. pp. 32-33.
  • Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 19.
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  • Maisuak : Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 22-23, il.
  • Maestros : Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao . Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 22-23, il.
  • Masters : Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 22-23, il.
  • Maîtres : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bilbao. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2016. pp. 22-23, il.
  • 110 Years 110 Works [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 36-37, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Urte 110 Artelan [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 36-37, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Años 110 Obras [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 36-37, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Ans 110 Oeuvres [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 36-37, sin n° cat.
  • Bartolomé Bermejo [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2018. pp. 20, 22, 29, 46, 54, 89, 153-164, n° cat. 7d.
  • Bartolomé Bermejo : Master of the Spanish Renaissance [Cat. exp.]. London, National Gallery Company, 2019. pp. 49, 52, il.
  • Molina Figueras, Joan (coord.). El universo pictórico de Bartolomé Bermejo : Congreso internacional, Centro de Estudios del Museo Nacional del Prado, 26 y 27 de noviembre de 2018. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2021. pp. 171, 186-187, 201, il.