MAESTRO DE BORJA

(Activo en Aragón a principios del siglo XVI)

MASTER OF BORJA (Active in Aragon at the beginning of the 16th century) "Saint Peter walking on the waters", circa 1525-1535 .

Oil and tempera on panel. Provenance: -Romero Rodrigales Collection (Gomez Moreno Archive No. 19686), Madrid. -Private collection, Madrid. Exhibitions: -“Ferdinandus Rex Hispaniarum. Prince of the Renaissance”, Aljaferia Palace / Cortes of Aragon, Zaragoza, October 6, 2006- January 7, 2007. -“From Gothic to Neoclassicism”, Savings Bank of Salamanca and Soria, Salamanca, 1995, p. 7. Provenance: -Romero Rodrigales Collection (Gomez Moreno Archive No. 19686), Madrid. -Private collection, Madrid. Exhibitions: - “Ferdinandus Rex Hispaniarum. Prince of the Renaissance”, Aljaferia Palace / Cortes of Aragon, Zaragoza, 6 October 2006-7 January 2007. - “From Gothic to Neoclassicism”, Caja de Ahorros de Salamanca y Soria, Salamanca, 1995, p. 7. Bibliography: -Post, Chandler Rathfon., “The Schools of Aragon and Navarre in the Early Renaissance” (A History of Spanish Painting, vol. XIII). Cambridge (Massachusetts), Harvard University Press, 1966, p. 190, fig. 64 (as Master of Borja). -VV. AA., “Three Centuries of Painting”. Madrid, Caylus Gallery, 1995, pp. 44-47 (as Pedro de Aponte). Dimensions: . This impressive panel, which demonstrates the splendor of Aragonese Renaissance painting, was unveiled by Post in 1966, when it was in the Romero Rodrigales collection in Madrid. He attributed it to an anonymous painter who was dubbed the "Master of Borja" due to its stylistic links to a Lamentation over the Body of Christ, preserved in the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria de Borja. The subject of various studies and exhibitions since that time, various specialists have ruled out its connection with that painting, proposing other authors, such as Pedro de Aponte. This authorship has also been questioned since, although they could have worked with the same models, the quality of the work shown here is significantly superior. The latest research has linked it to the paintings in the altarpiece at Grañen (Huesca), painted between 1508 and 1513 by Aponte and Cristobal de Cardeñosa. They are especially related to the latter due to the similarity of their color palette (especially the background landscapes, where an intense blue predominates), the expressiveness of their figures with very marked physiognomic features, and the pronounced attention to detail of Flemish origin. Despite what has been stated here, the only certainty is that the author of this painting, initially baptized as "Master of Borgia," was a painter active in Aragon or Navarre during the first third of the 16th century and that this panel is an excellent piece, both for its technical quality and its state of preservation. The scene depicted, showing the passage of Saint Peter walking on the water,It is narrated in the Gospels of Matthew (14:24-32) and John (6:17-21); the former is much more detailed. It recalls the moment when Jesus appeared to his disciples walking on the water in the middle of a violent storm. Thinking he was a spirit, they were frightened until Jesus identified himself and asked them not to be afraid. Peter had doubts and asked him that, if it was really him, he would allow him to walk on the water too. Jesus agreed and his disciple began to walk, but when he saw the force of the wind, he became frightened, lost his faith and began to sink. Measurements: . Measurements: 135 x 87 cm