Retable of Saints Andrew and Antonin of Pamiers

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Retable of Saints Andrew and Antonin of Pamiers

Artist Juan de Sevilla (Spanish, active ca. 1400-1465)

Dateabout 1417-1419

Dimensions90 × 81 1/2 in. (228.6 × 207 cm)

Mediumtempera on wood panel

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1955.213A-J

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 10

Label TextThis multipaneled altarpiece—a devotional image meant to be displayed on or near a Christian altar—depicts the crucifixion of Jesus (top center) and scenes from the life of Saints Andrew and Antonin of Pamiers, a local saint, who are shown in the lower center panel on the left and right, respectively. In the banquet scene at the lower left, the devil disguises himself as a finely dressed woman, but his true nature is visible at the back of his head. Saint Andrew knocks on the door to expose the treachery. Above, Andrew is crucified upside down. On the far right, a mob of townspeople attack and decapitate Antonin of Pamiers before disposing of his body in the river, recovered in the panel below. Additional images of Christian saints frame these narrative scenes. Attributed to Juan de Sevilla, this altarpiece was originally installed in a small hermitage chapel beside the fortress-tower outside the city walls of Séñigo, Spain. Following the destruction of the chapel sometime before the 19th century, the painting was relocated to the nearby Cathedral of Sigüenza in the Kingdom of Castile and León in northwest Spain. The heraldic escutcheons (coats-of-arms) visible at the top of the altarpiece belong to Alonso de Argüello, who became the bishop of Sigüenza in 1417.Published ReferencesEl arte en Espana, Barcelona, Museo del Palacio Nacional, 1929, p. 275, no. 1703.

Post, C. R., A History of Spanish Painting, Cambridge, 1930, III, pp. 175-176 (as probably Aragonese), 1933, IV (part 2), p. 637 (as Retable of Sts. Andrew and Vincent).

Gudiol, J., "Juan de Sevilla - Juan de Peralta," Goya, no. 5, Mar. - Apr. 1955, pp. 261-262, fig. 5 (det.) (as St. Andrew and a Holy Deacon).

Post, C.R., A History of Spanish Painting, Cambridge, 1958, XII (part 2), p. 611 (as Retable of St. Andrew and a Hallowed Deacon).

Tresors de la peinture espagnole, Paris, Musee des Arts Decoratifs, 1963.

Camón Aznar, J., Pintura medieval Espanola, Summa Artis, Madrid, 1966, XXII, p. 310, repr. (det.) (as by Juan de Peralta; as Sts. Andrew and Vincent).

Heriard-Dubreuil, M., "Juan de Peralta," L'Oeil, no. 209, May 1972, pp. 4-8, 10, 12, figs. 6-10 (as Retable of Sts. Andrew and Antonin).

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 150-151, pl. 47.

Young, Eric, "European Paintings, The Toledo Museum of Art," (review) Connoisseur, vol. 196, no. 787, Sept. 1977, p. 69.

Young, Eric, "Juan de Sevilla, Juan de Peralta and Juan de Burgos," Apollo, vol. 113, no. 227, Jan. 1981, pp. 5-9, repr. fig. 2, 7, 8.

Sobre, Judith Berg, Behind the Altar Table, Columbia, MO., 1989, p. 137, fig. 86.

Juan de Sevilla & the Grajal Retable, London, Matthiesen Ltd., 2014, pp. 39-43, repr. (col.) p. 40, repr. (det.) p. 42.

Exhibition HistoryBarcelona, Museo del Palacio Nacional, El arte en Espana, 1929, no. 1703.