Fernando Gallego - Discussion of Major Works

Discussion of Major Works

● Retablo of Ciudad Rodrigo (University of Arizona Museum of Art)

The panels from this massive altarpiece has been attributed to the workshops of Fernando Gallego and Master Bartolomé. Its original orientation and dimensions are not known, as it was likely added to after its installation. It was moved and fell into disrepair by the early 19th century. The panels were subsequently removed from their original frames and split up; twenty-three narrative panels were sent to London in the 1880s. Some scholars claim there may have been upwards of forty-two narrative panels, but since the apse in the cathedral was remodeled in 1502, the size of the space the altarpiece filled is up for debate. There are twenty-six panels in the Kress Collection at the University of Arizona Museum of Art, and scholars believe that the panels were almost equally split between Gallego and Bartolomé.

Among the panels attributed to the workshop of Gallego, three are from the predella, and eleven from the main retablo. They include:

Predella: St. Andrew and St. Peter, St. Bartholomew and St. John the Evangelist, St. Mark and St. Thomas. Altarpiece: The Circumcision, The Charge to Peter, Pilate Washing His Hands, Ecce Homo, Christ and the Samaritan Woman, The Raising of Lazarus, The Agony in the Garden, The Betrayal of Christ, The Healing of the Blind Bartimaeus, Changing the Water into Wine, The Last Judgment. A detailed discussion of these pieces and the science behind the scholarship can be found in the book Fernando Gallego and His Workshop: The Altarpiece from Ciudad Rodrigo, published by the Meadows Museum at SMU.

Although Gallego did not sign this work, there is a document from 1486 which lists him on the tax roll for Ciudad Rodrigo. This in addition to the stylistic attribution lead scholars to believe Gallego and his workshop played a significant role in producing the panels for the altarpiece. There are twenty-six surviving panels of the retablo, painted between 1480-1500.

A major study of the Altarpiece of Ciudad Rodrigo was published in 2008. The twenty-six panel altarpiece was acquired by the University of Arizona Museum of Art in 1957. The publication and study includes research about the provenance, style, historical context of fifteenth-century Castile, and the role that printmaking played in production of the altarpiece. The final chapter discusses studies made through infrared reflectography and undertaken at the Kimbell Art Museum's Conservation Studio in Fort Worth, which allowed scholars to analyze the theory that two different workshops created the panels; it also served as a case study of fifteenth-century Castilian artistic practice. A short film from the SMU Meadows Museum gives insight into the study of Gallego's altarpiece.

● Retablo of San Ildefonso (Cathedral of Zamora)

The work is not dated, so scholars have proposed various dates. It was traditionally considered to have been painted in 1456, when the founder of the chapel received cardinalship, but as late a date as 1467 has also been proposed. This is the oldest of Gallego’s retablos. It consists of two main parts arranged with three panels each, a five-figured banco (predella), and two side guardapolvo (angled dust covers). The six main panels represent, from left to right and top to bottom: Baptism of Jesus, Christ on the Cross at Calvary, Martyrdom of John the Baptist, Apparition of Saint Leocadia, San Ildefonso (Saint Ildephonsus) Receiving the Chasuble from the Virgin, and Veneration of the Relics of San Ildefonso. The predella shows, left to right: Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Nicolas de Bari, Saint Peter, The Holy Face, Saint Jerome, and Saint James. The guardapolvo represent Eve and Adam on the top and allegories of the Church and Synagogue beneath. Between the panels show the coat of arms of the Cardinal. The altarpiece was most recently restored by the Central Institute of Restoration in Madrid between 1966-1976. Later overpainting was removed; and although the panels are in relatively good condition, significant portions of the two middle panels (Christ on the Cross and San Ildefonso Receiving the Chasuble) are damaged.

● The Sky of Salamanca (Cielo de Salamanca) (University of Salamanca)

There are no contracts proving that the mural project The Sky of Salamanca is definitively Fernando Gallego’s. However, there is documentation from the rector Rodrigo Alvarez, requesting Fernando Gallego be hired to paint the library, since he had already worked for the cathedral on the Virgin of the Rose triptych. Documents also mention him by name in relation to the painting of the library coffers. Sky of Salamanca is located in the University of Salamanca’s library ceiling. It reflects up-to-date astronomical knowledge, divided like an astrolabe and depicting constellations and planets.

● Pietà (La Piedad) (Prado Museum, Madrid)

Depictions of the pietà came to prominence during the end of the 15th century. Gallego’s version is a rather straightforward and uncluttered composition. Mary cradling the body of Christ is prominently placed in the center of the panel with the cross above them. The only other figures are small representations of the unknown donors. One of them is praying, “m iserere mei due,” a prayer from Psalms spoken on Holy Saturday. A landscape with city scene is evident in the background, likely depicting Jerusalem. This, like other pietàs would have been a purely devotional image, meant for religious contemplation.

● Virgin of the Rose (Triptych de la Virgen de la Rosa) (Cathedral of Salamanca Museum)

Virgin of the Roses is a small altarpiece with three panels. It has been restored and reframed, so the original orientation of the panels is unknown. Due to its small size, it was likely placed in the cloisters of the Salamanca Cathedral, possibly over a tomb. The three shields on the triptych now contain symbols of the saints beneath them (rose bush for the Virgin Mary, tree for Saint Andrew, laurel branch for Saint Christopher), however they have been repainted to cover over the original familial coats of arms. Gallego’s signature is plainly visible beneath the Virgin’s robes.