Abstract
Among the paintings of netherlandish origin imported into Catalonia during the first half of the 16th century, preserved at the Monastery of Pedralbes, there is a small panel featuring the Madonna and Child in a landscape which is attributed here to Patinir’s workshop, not excluding the possibility of some autograph intervention by the master. Whatever the case, this article sets out to situate the piece both in the context of its production and in that of its reception, that is, the community of nuns of Saint Claire of Pedralbes. What is interesting about this apparently modest work is the fact that it combines a set of ingredients typical of Patinir in a composition that is otherwise atypical as regards his known output as a whole, above all in terms of the relationship between the figure and the landscape, although also of its presumed iconographic simplicity. The final section of the article examines the piece in relation to the ever-controversial issue –which still remains to be definitively resolved– of the authorship of the figures in the works of Patinir.
Highlights
Among the paintings of netherlandish origin imported into Catalonia during the first half of the 16th century, preserved at the Monastery of Pedralbes, there is a small panel featuring the Madonna and Child in a landscape which is attributed here to Patinir’s workshop, not excluding the possibility of some autograph intervention by the master
Founded in 1327 by Queen Elisenda de Montcada, third wife of Jaume II of Aragon, the Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes, which housed a community of Poor Clares, is one of the most outstanding monuments of Catalan Gothic architecture and preserves a remarkable collection of artworks, quantitatively the most important in all Catalan convents and monasteries of medieval origin[1]
Prominent in this varied heritage is a set of paintings, alongside a few sculptures, that were imported from the Low Countries at the end of the 15th century and, above all, during the initial decades of the 16th century
Summary
Among the paintings of netherlandish origin imported into Catalonia during the first half of the 16th century, preserved at the Monastery of Pedralbes, there is a small panel featuring the Madonna and Child in a landscape which is attributed here to Patinir’s workshop, not excluding the possibility of some autograph intervention by the master. There is no signed painting by Joachim Patinir that presents the same overall composition, the landscape setting on the Pedralbes panel does come from the repertoire of Patinir and his workshop.
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