Tag Archives: High Epoch

The origin of the word clearly resolves its definition. It comes from the Latin aurea which means golden or golden, that is, the halo or golden or luminous circle that surrounds the figures and presents the divine character of the wearer. Thanks to this feature we can distinguish the saints, the Virgin and Christ in each of the paintings in front of us. Why have we assumed this convention? what is its origin? The answer is fascinating.

We could find this halo in cultures all over the world, at extremes of each other and for thousands of years. The common feature is very interesting, since regardless of religion or culture, man has been identifying in a very similar way the divine in his own nature. The first example of the halo is found in Ancient Egypt, whose artistic conventions usually represent their gods with the solar disk on their heads. On the other side of the Mediterranean, the Greeks use the disc of light or flashing rays to identify some divinities such as the solar divinities in the case of Apollo or Helios. This trait would be assumed by the Romans who would extend it even to deified persons, such as the imperial family. In more remote parts such as India we also see the nimbus in images of Buddha. Perhaps a quick summary of these origins is that from the cradle of Egypt it influenced Greece, during the Hellenistic period it was transferred to India and later it was also imitated by the Roman Empire. It is just because of Roman art that Christian art assimilated the nimbus.

Paleochristian art uses from very early on the golden halo to identify the figure of Jesus and thus differentiate him from a costumbrist scene. It is likely that the first manifestations of Christ, which used to be as a good shepherd or as a young man with the twelve apostles, the nimbus became essential to give him a higher iconographic dignity. Thus the shepherd with his flock resembled the god Apollo in a bucolic scene or the banquet scenes, the last supper. Christian art has been evolving and adapting according to the peculiarities of each region and historical moment up to the present day. From the representations of Christ, the Virgin and later the saints were incorporated. The halo becomes an indispensable element as we see in such ancient examples as Byzantine icons. During the medieval period this feature remains and in the Baroque period it becomes a more dynamic and theatrical effect.

We have seen how that small halo of golden light emanating from the figures is automatically identified in our minds with the divine. It is curious to think that this trait is the product of thousands of years of tradition of cultures considerably distant from ours, however, despite time and space, it seems that we are not so different.

The city welcomed painters of the stature of Ribera, Caravaggio, Pretti, Stanzione and a long list of masters who left their mark on churches and palaces. These works would mark future generations of Neapolitan artists. One of the most fruitful and of greatest genius was undoubtedly Luca Giordano.

Educated in the workshop of Ribera, who would deeply mark his style, he knew how to advance by combining others and styles from the classicist to the Venetian exuberance. The speed with which he executed his works, the originality in creating models and the diligence in his work made him one of the most important figures of his time. In the next auction on June 22, Setdart offers an extraordinary work of “fa presto”. The panel has a finish that indicates that it was probably used as a Tabernacle door, however, its quality even in the most sketchy details gives the impression that it could even be the sketch for a large-format altarpiece.

The next protagonist on the Neapolitan scene is Francesco Solimena. Related to Giordano I ended up being deeply influenced by Pretti. His characteristic style made him very popular without hardly leaving his hometown. One of his most prominent patrons was the then king of the two Sicilies, Don Carlos de Borbón, the future Carlos III of Spain. It is worth noting that the work we are presenting is very likely the pair of the one belonging to the Prado Museum collection and that it would be one of the paintings that the king would bring with him after his departure from Italian lands. Currently on display at the San Telmo Museum in San Sebastián.

The painting we are talking about has another interesting feature and it is the intervention of the hand of another artist, Andrea Belvedere. The beginning of the 18th century welcomed a large group of painters specialized in still lifes and flower compositions, personalities such as Belvedere, Baldarre de Caro, the Reccos or Gasparo López.

The altarpiece was originally a small, portable element that was normally placed on an altar table to celebrate the liturgy. Over time it evolved and also became an object with a decorative and didactic purpose. We can say that the birth of the altarpiece as such is to be found in the medieval tables that originally adorned the fronts of the altar tables, but that at a given moment are placed suspended behind it. It will be, especially in the Gothic, when these compositions that in principle were, fundamentally, paintings on panel, are going to be complicated and expanded. Thus, different ways of understanding the altarpiece will emerge: from the simplest triptychs that are developed basically in the Flemish sphere, to the complex Hispanic altarpieces that fill the entire surface of the apse or the main chapel. Initially, the structure of the altarpiece was independent, the rear part was free, visible, as a simple architectural plot that served more as a frame for the paintings, but as time progresses, the altarpieces will become true portable structures of great technical complexity. and artistic.

During the Renaissance, altarpieces began to develop and become true masterpieces. They could vary in the complexity of their construction: from the simplest dosales to the large polyptychs, divided into several sections, which displayed the artistic skills of painters such as Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, at the end of the 14th century, or the master of the school from Umbria Luca Signorelli, during the second half of the 15th century.

They underwent a great formal change from the beginning of the 15th century, when they went from being a polyptych, in a Gothic frame, to a single rectangular panel, framed in the characteristic architectural style of the church. Examples from the period show how structural change resulted in artistic and technical change.

The decoration of each work reflects where they were created and the circumstances of their origin. Behind each piece are mundane stories: commissions from the chaplains themselves, religious congregations, or private clients (known as donors) about which saints should appear, which scenes were chosen, and why.

The 16th century altarpiece that Setdart is putting out to tender on June 14 is a magnificent example of the Renaissance style in Spain. Structured in two bodies, the lower area has a classicist inspiration that refers to models from ancient times in Spain. The alternation between the frontals and the avenerated niches is inspired by the parascenium or frontals of the scenes of the Roman theaters, serve as an example that of Mérida. The upper area, which is divided into three streets, shows a more idiosyncratic style, where characteristics that come from classical antiquity alternate with elements unique to Spanish culture, thus showing an aesthetic that can be defined as plateresque. This style was characterized by combining aesthetic influences that came from the Gothic, Renaissance and Islamic repertoire. The presence of the chamfered domes, located on the sides, the pointed finial at the end of the central area and the presence of puttis, among other classical ornamentation, testify to this confluence of unique aesthetics that was the Plateresque style.

In the central area of the altarpiece, as a vanishing point and epicenter of the architectural structure, the figure of Christ can be seen, presented as an allegory of the Eucharist. From his side, a dramatic stream of blood emanates, which flows into a golden chalice, thus symbolizing the words that Christ pronounced at the last supper “Take and drink all of you, for this is my blood, blood of the new and eternal covenant , which will be poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.”

During the 17th century, Flemish painting developed, deriving from the genre of flower painting, a new formula that, recreated by a large group of artists and workshops, achieved outstanding success throughout the century in much of the field. European: the garland or border of flowers as a frame and enhancing element of a central theme of
religious character.

Brueghel de Velours, known as Brueghel the Elder, was the initiator of this type of composition, especially linked in his work to the representation of the Virgin with the Child.
However, it was his disciple, the Jesuit Daniel Seghers, who was the dominant figure in this specialized production and the creator of a prototype that would serve as a model for the numerous followers and imitators of the genre, Flemish and foreign. Note that, in this type of composition, the flowers are not simply a secondary element, or accessory, but are worked with the same care, and with the same quality as the image they usually frame. In fact, sometimes they show even one more hand
skilful, since these works were often the result of the collaboration of a painter of flowers and another specialized in the human figure.

Setdart presents this magnificent example of a border painting made by Jean-Baptiste Morel in the last third of the 17th century, and in which a great mastery can be seen in the floral composition, while in the center the space is empty, so it is very likely that the piece is completely unfinished, which makes it such a unique piece and allows us to appreciate the great quality that these painters had, often overshadowed by its central image.

Analyzing the structure of this flower garland by Morel, we observe that it adopts the ornamental oval or decorated niche. Originally from Greek and Roman antiquity, this architectural form had been well known since the Renaissance and fully accepted and applied in graphic arts and painting. The oval reached a great variety of shapes. It was chosen to endow a painting with elegance and category and it used to be captured surrounded by
garlands of flowers or fruit, as an autonomous and, fundamentally, decorative work of art. However, the meaning of a painting of this type could also be closely related to the subject treated in the center of it, which was used to underline the artist’s intention or perhaps give the painting a unique meaning, sometimes hidden, according to the wishes of the client who had commissioned it. A hybrid form, a combination of both genres, became very fashionable in Antwerp and Utrecht, probably introduced by Jan D. de Heem.

The floral repertoire that is combined in the work offers an attractive variety, identifying a good number of species: tulips, anemones, roses and chrysanthemums, among other floral species. A set that stands out in its wide color range, arranged on the black background that articulates the entire composition. It should be noted that, behind the flowers, especially in the central area, you can see the presence of an oval frame of
dark tonality, which serves as the basis for the floral crown that stars in the scene. Regarding said composition, despite the chromatic variety that the flowers present, it should be noted that, in those flowers that are found in the area of the outer perimeter, the author has
used darker shades, and even ochres. Thus indicating that the artist has used a spotlight, which falls directly on the center of the composition, leaving the lateral areas in a certain shadow.

In the case at hand, the oldest known versions of flower garlands around a central motif of a religious or allegorical theme are of Flemish origin. They can be considered the source of a tradition that was maintained for decades in the northern countries. From 1608 to the mid-17th century, collaborations on flower representations and central images between artists such as Jan Brueghel the Elder or Rubens and their respective workshops resulted in an enormous amount of
garlands of different types. Painters such as Daniel Seghers – a Jesuit who began his artistic career in Utrecht, then traveled through Italy for several years, before finally settling in Antwerp – introduced this style, characterized by the detailed representation of compositions full of flowers. Seghers devoted himself exclusively to painting religious-themed pictures with figures of saints or scenes from the
Passion and the Holy Bible.

Setdart has brought together in a single auction, works belonging to different vital moments of the artist, which in the case of Ponç takes on special value, because we are dealing with a creator whose spirit and personal experience is reflected (although always in a mysterious way) in his creation. Specifically, drawings and paintings are up for bid that range from his beginnings in the forties (when he ventured into expressionist primitivism, based on self-exploratory portraits) to the eighties, when, in the twilight of his life, he bequeaths us some visions that they almost surpass those of his surrealist stage of Dau Al Set.

At the beginning of the 1940s, Joan Ponç began to forge the complexity of a symbolic language that would crystallize during the creative period of the iconic Dau al Set Group. In a historical context in which the taste for more conventional art dominated, Ponç, together with his groupmates, planted the seed that would drive the renewal of post-war art. In this regeneration, the surrealist heritage that permeated the Spanish artistic environment in the pre-war environment was essential. In this sense, the inspiration provided by the legacy of Joan Miró is especially noteworthy in the work of Ponç, his figure being the one that most effectively embodied the postulates of the Catalan genius. In this way, Ponç searched the human unconscious to give expression to the forms and sensations most deeply rooted in the individual psyche, delving into its most recondite, disturbing and mysterious aspects of its existence. Examples of this are the “Deliri” suite or the gouache “dau al setB-24”, in which there is evidence of a dreamlike world influenced by the powerful symbolism of signs, biomorphic characters, or symbols such as the spiral, the stars or the moon were so typical of the Miró universe. As we can see, his flat drawing, although increasingly sophisticated, focuses on a symbolism that emerges from the organic interrelation of the different elements that make up phantasmagorical and delirious landscapes plagued by unusual creatures whose pure and intense colors are enveloped in an aura dreamy that gives the peculiar telluric aspect that characterized his production.

After the disappointment of the outcome of his experience in Dau al Set, Ponç decides, on the recommendation of Joan Miró, to settle in Brazil where he remained throughout this decade until in 1962 his health problems forced him to return to Catalonia. In the country of Rio de Janeiro, he found the right environment for the development of that oneiric universe that will become more cryptic and hermetic. During this period he will give birth to one of his most emblematic series such as “Caps” as a result of his contact with the blacks of bixiga and his visits to the synagogues of Sao Paolo where, as in a kind of baptism, Lohanan emerges, his new artistic identity. linked to the Hebrew world. The multiple expressions and moods of the 99 harlequin heads (alter ego of the artist) are united by a search for the absolute and sacred that materializes in the verticality and ascension of the conical hat and the half-open mouth like a portal to the divine.

Beginning in the 1960s and once again installed in Catalonia, Ponç will continue to experiment and evolve both on a technical and expressive level. However, his growing health problems will become more and more present in his production, reflecting in it the obsessive anguish towards illness and death, but also the physical pain that as a result of his diabetes he began to feel in each of his limbs. that will now appear in his work scattered in different parts. Despite this, Ponç will continue to display the meticulous detail and precision that characterized his drawing, which, as in this case, weaves under a profuse geometric framework. Likewise, it will be in these years when his technical experimentations will lead him to what he called acupuncture, where thanks to the use of small brushstrokes made by means of a denser solution than usual, he managed to make the paint stand out from the canvas (just as it happens on the canvas). what we will see later ““Pyrenean Night”)

Finally, and as a culmination to this magnificent set that we include in auction, we have the canvas “Pyrenean Night” (1980-1983). Ponç worked on it with meticulous dedication over the course of three years, already affected by diabetes that had left him partially blind. The night, which in a certain way runs through all of Ponç’s creations, now reaches its full meaning: darkness referring to the enigma of life, the mystery of symbols, mysticism, but also now to eternal darkness, to the kingdom of eternal darkness that Ponç feels approaching. We are before a captivating painting, in which a black rabbit with glowing red eyes crosses a field populated by ghosts and demons. A haunted castle can be seen in the distance. The moon bears on its face the silhouette of a bat. Emerald green, cobalt blue, black and red make up the color spectrum of this incursion into the abyss of dreams.