LLEI D'ART 13

Comisariada por el Dr. Lorne Campbell y José Juan Pérez Preciado, conservador en el departamento de Pintura flamenca yEscuelasdel nortedelMuseoNacional del Prado, la pinacoteca presenta unamagníficamuestra organizada en torno a la reciente restauración del Calvario del Escorial, una obramuy vinculadaa lahistoriadeEspaña y a sumonarquía, donada por el propio artista a la cartuja de Scheut en fechas próximas a su muerte y entregada oficialmente en 1574 al MonasteriodeSan LorenzodeEl Escorial. Junto al Calvario , se podrán contemplar El Descendimiento , realizadopara la iglesiadeNuestraSeñoradeExtramuros de Lovaina y custodiadapor El Prado, y el TrípticodeMiraflores , obra que el rey Juan II de Castilla donó a la cartuja de Miraflores, en Burgos, y que actualmente es propiedad de la GemäldegaleriedeBerlín. Estas tres obras son las únicas del artista consideradas autógrafas y a ellas se suma uno de los gruposescultóricosdel llamado RetablodeBelén de la iglesia de Santa María de la Asunción de Laredo, realizado hacia 1440 en Bruselas para plantear una sugerente confrontación Isabella of Portugal, thewife andmother of these two Dukes of Burgundywas also an important patronof the artist, as revealedby the artist’s portrait of her preserved at LosAngeles’s J. Paul GettyMuseum, and the commissionof a large altarpiece for theSaint Mary of Victorymonastery (at Batalha), sent to Lisbon in 1445. This altarpiece is today destroyed, andwe only have adrawing from 1808of it, which is alsoon display. The various copies and versions of VanderWeyden’s workwere alsogreatly appreciated inSpain. The VirginwithChild , also called the DuránVirginof the Prado is another of the highlights, whichwas already known inSpainduring the artist’s lifetime given that iswas copiedprofusely throughout the 15th century, as exemplifiedby the the versionof theMaster of Don Álvarode Luna inCastile. In turn, Isabella theCatholic commissioned her court painter, Johnof Flanders, to create a copy of TheMiraflores Triptych for theRoyal Chapel inGranada, one of whosepieces is currently on show at NewYork’sMetropolitanMuseum. The strong impact of VanderWeyden’s creations on the IberianPeninsula is especially clear whenobserving thework of thePortuguesepainter NunoGonçalves or the compositions of the Flemish sculptor Egas Cueman, whose various designs for a sepulchre are clearly inspiredby VanderWeyden’swork, aswell as the spectacular funeral sculpture of BishopBarrientos, one of Rogier vanderWeyden’s artistic jewels from 15th centuryCastile. Rogier vanderWeyden. VirgendeDurán / DuránVirgin , 1435-1438. MuseoNacional del Prado,Madrid. Rogier vanderWeyden. El Calvario/ Stations of theCross , c. 1457-64. PatrimonioNacional/ National Heritage. Real MonasteriodeSan LorenzodeEl Escorial/ Royal Seat of SanLorenzodeEl Escorial. 110