Helena Almeida: 'Seduzir' [To Seduce, 2002] (detail)

Collection

Virgen con niño [Virgin and Child]

Image caption
ALONSO CANO  (Copy)

Virgen con niño [Virgin and Child]

  • c. 1645
  • Oil on canvas
  • 84 x 68 cm
  • Cat. P_102
  • Acquired in 1975
By:
Alfonso Pérez Sánchez

Acquired in 1975 as a painting from the workshop of Alonso Cano, this is an early copy of moderate quality of a famous composition by the painter, the original of which is held in the Cathedral of Seville (H. Wethey, Alonso Cano, 1955, p. 160, fig 47; E. Valdivieso, 1978, num. 280), with the title The Virgin of Bethlehem.

Given the beauty of the original and the devotion it inspired, a large number of copies were made, many of which (of varying quality) are still extant. A painting in the Museum of Jaén, thought to be a workshop replica (Wethey, 1955, p.p. 161) bears an inscription, dated 1641, granting indulgences to devotees of the image. This date suggests that the original was painted by Cano during his early years in Seville and this appears to be confirmed by the workmanship and the intense contrast of light and shade, still very much in the tenebrist tradition.

Another, later, replica of superior quality (probably made in Granada), is preserved in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg (Wethey, 1955, p. 161, fig. 48).

A relatively large number of later copies, of no particular merit, are held in several Spanish collections. More surprising, perhaps, is the painting of the same composition in the Anglican Cathedral in Edinburgh, which has been (somewhat absurdly) attributed to Mateo Cerezo, in which Mother and Child are adorned with elaborate crowns.

Given the markedly tenebrist nature of the (somewhat rough) copy in the Banco de España collection, it must presumably have been painted in Seville between 1645 and 1650.

Alfonso Pérez Sánchez

 
By:
Roberto Díaz , Alfonso Pérez Sánchez, Carlos Martín
Alonso Cano
Granada 1601 - Granada 1667

Alonso Cano is considered to be one of the great all-rounders of the Spanish Baroque, working in painting, sculpture, altarpiece art and (albeit to a lesser extent) architecture. He left a lasting influence, especially in Andalusia. Cano's father designed and assembled altarpieces and the artist learned from him the rudiments of the trade. In 1614, his family moved to Seville where he received most of his education. He served as an apprentice in the workshop of the artist and theoretician Francisco Pacheco, and there met Diego Velázquez, with whom he maintained a close friendship over the years. He is also believed to have worked under Juan Martínez Montañés, who left an undeniable influence on his sculpture. He gained renown both as a painter and as a sculptor and in 1638 he moved to Madrid to work for the Count Duke of Olivares as a painter and valet. There, his style was transformed by the influence of Velázquez and his studies of the many works by Venetian painters that had been held in the royal collections since the sixteenth century. This led to a certain Italianization in his approach, combined with other influences such as the transparencies of Van Dyck. In 1652 he returned to Granada, where he was appointed to the post of official painter at the cathedral and executed the monumental series of paintings of the Virgin Mary adorning the main chapel. Although originally designed to be a mausoleum for the Habsburg monarchy, this royal site had been superseded by the construction of the Monastery of El Escorial.

Cano led a dramatic and eventful life; he was accused of the murder of his first wife and eventually entered the priesthood. The art of his later years, however, exudes a serene, light-filled beauty, a far remove from the tenebrism of his youth, reflecting his journey from a deeply Spanish Baroque style towards more cosmopolitan trends. After a second three-year period spent in Madrid, in 1660 he returned once more to Granada. However, his relationship with the cathedral chapter deteriorated. As an old and infirm man, he was ejected from his workshop in the cathedral tower — whose main façade he himself had designed (although it was not completed until after his death).

 
 
Harold E. Wethey Alonso Cano, pintor, escultor y arquitecto, Madrid, Alianza, 1983. Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez & Julián Gállego Banco de España. Colección de pintura, Madrid, Banco de España, 1985. Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez, Julián Gállego & María José Alonso Colección de pintura del Banco de España, Madrid, Banco de España, 1988. Vv.Aa. Alonso Cano. Modernidad y espiritualidad artística, Seville, Consejería de Cultura, 2001. Vv.Aa. Alonso Cano, Arte e iconografía, Granada, Arzobispado de Granada, 2002. Ángel Aterido Fernández Corpus Alonso Cano: documentos y textos, Madrid, Subdirección General de Información y Publicaciones, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, 2002. Luis Méndez Rodríguez Laboratorio de Arte, «El círculo de aprendices de Alonso Cano en Sevilla», Seville, Universidad de Sevilla, 2003, 443-452, nº 16. Vv.Aa. Colección Banco de España. Catálogo razonado, Madrid, Banco de España, 2019, vol. 1.