Author: Xavi

A new Morales comes to light

Morales

The work, studied by the CAEM’s scientifc consultant and former professor at the CSIC, Dra. Isabel Mateo Gómez, represents a new milestone in the production of the Extremaduran genius

The ability to move through the depiction of pain, which forces the viewer to join the figure in the most human aspect of Christ’s suffering, is the flagship of the painting of Luis de Morales, known as the Divine, for his ability to capture this pathos in his religious painting and for his artistic gifts, unparalleled in his day with the exception of El Greco.

All this is evident in this exquisite Jesus with the Cross on his shoulders that falls for the first time, which dates from 1550 according to the inscription of the upper right-hand corner of the panel. The composition, which is new and different from those in the Morales corpus, recalls models by the Toledo artist Correa de Vivar and the Valencian Joan de Joanes. The modelling of the hands, Christ’s musculature, the rope around his neck, the aquiline nose joined to the eyebrows, the eyes deviated by pain, the mouth showing the teeth, the treatment of the Saviour’s hair and his ear are all fully in keeping with the unique character of the Extremaduran painter.

On this occasion, Dra. Isabel Mateo Gómez, scientific consultant to the CAEM and leading expert in the study of the painter, was asked to lead the analysis of this piece, producing an exciting attribution report in which she details all those aspects that claim the paternity of the artwork, attributing it without any doubt to the painter. Based on the valuable text by Dra. Mateo Gómez, the CAEM research team, apart from enjoying this exceptional painting, has complemented the aforementioned study by carrying out a series of analytical techniques, especially Digital Microscopy and Infrared Photography (IR), confirming and underpinning the artwork of the great expert Mateo Gómez, above all from the meticulous observation of the painting. Once again, the analytical sum of techniques and collegiate views has been the major distinguishing and differential point of the CAEM Group.

Gianluigi Colalucci (Roma 1929-2021): “in memoriam”. One of the best restaurateus in the world

He was director of the conservation and restoration laboratories at the Vatican. From 1980 to 1994 he was in charge of the restoration of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. He participated in the Congreso Internacional de Historia de la Pintura de Época Moderna. De Miguel Ángel a Goya, held at the Universitat de Lleida in 2013. He has been an active Scientific Consultant of the CAEM (2013-2021).

colalucci_memoriam

The highlight of his professional career as a conservator and restorer was his work in the Sistine Chapel, where he achieved a non-invasive recovery of Michelangelo Buonarrotti’s original polychromy. After 500 years, more than 1.200 square metres of mural painting were brought back to life, after rescuing the paint that had been buried by layers of soot and dust accumulated over time; in addition, Colalucci, with the help of Maurizio Rossi and Piergiorgio Bonetti, managed to remove with great care and precision a pernicious animal glue applied three hundred years ago to fix the colours.

In addition to the great work mentioned above, his many other works in the field of panel and canvas painting can be seen in the doctoral thesis written by his wife, Daniela Bartoletti, and defended at the Polytechnic University of Valencia on 22 February 2010. Professor Ximo Company, director of the CAEM, was on the examining board that judged this splendid thesis with the highest mark. The title of the thesis already says a lot: Gianluigi Colalucci y su trayectoria restauradora. Un viaje a través de las transformaciones en el mundo de la restauración desde Cesare Brandi a nuestros días (2010). Daniela Bartoletti also honours us as Scientific Consultant of CAEM, Universitat de Lleida.

Since 2013 he has been Scientific Consultant of the CAEM (UdL), and has always been distinguished by his cordiality and his solicitous attention to all our scientific requests and queries. The entire CAEM research team remembers him with admiration and gratitude.

Ferran Bono, editor of El País, presents the artwork of El Greco attributed by CAEM

The journalist recounts in his article on Christ with the cross on his back (oil on canvas, 57’5 x 38’5 cm, ca. 1585-1590) a brief summary of the essence of the meticulous investigation that has culminated with the attribution to the Cretan master, carried out by researcher Mariona Navarro, the recently deceased Dra. Carmen Garrido and Dr. Ximo Company.

News_cristogreco

View the entire news in paper version, here.

The CAEM studies, identifies and certifies an exceptional unpublished painting by El Greco

The work has been studied jointly with Dr. Carmen Garrido (Madrid 1947-2020; emeritus director of the “Gabinete Técnico de El Museo del Prado”). To her memory, and with deep gratitude, we dedicate this writing.

Cristo con la cruz a cuestas

It has been a long research, elaborated with great care, like Carmen Garrido enjoyed working. Extensive research that CAEM researchers will remember for a lifetime. A priceless opportunity to work with a real teacher, very wise, in the history of art in this country. As Carmen Garrido looked at the painting, no one in Spain has ever done it. She penetrated every pictorial work she examined in a unique way.

Thank you very much, dear Carmen, for teaching us so much, and for distilling among us, in a very generous way, the good and best of your perceptual and analytical wisdom.

New post

CAEM researcher Jésica Martí gives a conference on the artistic production of Agustí Masvidal

As member of the Centre d’Art d’Època Moderna (an institution that has catalogued more than 3,000 artworks by Masvidal), and as an expert in the artist’s production, she closes with her lecture the cycle of activities about the painter, organized by the Ajuntament de Sabadell, the Museu d’Art de Sabadell and the Masvidal family.

conference

The conference, very entertaining and enriching, can be enjoyed by visiting the website of the Museu d’Art de Sabadell.

TO DRA. CARMEN GARRIDO, SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR OF CAEM (2015-2020), IN MEMORIAM

Carmen Garrido

 

Carmen Garrido Pérez (Madrid 1947-2020) has undoubtedly been, due to her profound way of seeing and analysing pictorial artworks, one of the most innovative figures in the History of Spanish and European Art. Weeks before he died he wrote with relish, together with various researchers from the CAEM (Univ. De Lleida), about Velázquez.

She was Doctor from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Art History, with the thesis Contribución al estudio de pinturas hispano-flamencas y renacentistas utilizando los métodos físico-químicos de examen científico, doctoral thesis directed by Gratiniano Nieto Gallo (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 1979); and she was also Curator of Cuerpo Facultativo de Museos de España. Until now, she was the Emeritus Director of the Gabinete de Documentación Técnica of the Museo Nacional del Prado, one of the most complete and active in the world, created by herself in 1980.

During the last years of her life, already emeritus at the Museo Nacional del Prado, but active non-stop, she gave us her invaluable analytical and perceptual teaching to all the researchers of the Center d’Art d’Època Moderna (CAEM) of the University of Lleida. It was our pole star. We owe him immense gratitude. We learned the unspeakable. She was our scientific director for years and we were fortunate to work side by side with her. Thank you very much, dear Carmen.

To see the bibliography, click here

The exaltedness of the angels in the Cathedral of Valencia, a masterpiece of Renaissance mural painting in Spain

Professors Miguel Ángel Herrero (Universitat Politècnica de València) and Ximo Company (Univeritat de Lleida) have published an extensive study on the aforementioned angels: “Del fresc a l’oli: les pràctiques pictòriques de Paolo de San Leocadio al Regne de València i al ducat de Gandia”, in Una comunitat humana al llarg de la historia: la Safor. Estudis dedicats a Vicent Olaso Cendra, Catarroja-Barcelona, Afers, 2020, pp. 555-593.

Paolo de San Leocadio

Load More
Menu