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Altarpiece of saint Ramon de Penyafort

Renaissance

Attributed to Jaume Huguet II (documented between

Between 1601 and 1607

Location icon

Ramon of Penyafort (1180-1275) was a Catalan Dominican friar who spent most of his activities in Rome, where he was confessor of pope Gregory IX. This pontiff made him compilate the Decretales, the most important Canon Law compilation until 20th C. Canonised in 1601, he soon became the patron saint of Catalan lawyers. His condition as an intellectual and a specialist in Canon Law is reflected in the central panel of this altarpiece, where behind the figure of the saint, dressed with the Dominican habit, a complete Law library can be seen. In the side scenes four episodes if his life are depicted. In the first one, the saint imposes the Mercedarian habit to saint Pere Nolasc. Below, saint Ramon makes a dying person recover the conscience in order to confess. On the other side, the saint is awaken by an angel and, finally, is buried. Besides to the quality of the painting of Jaume Huguet II -to whom Irene Abril attribues this altarpiece due to stylistical reasons-, the piece is interesting because it represents one of the first pictorical adaptations of the life of saint Ramon de Penyafort. In fact, being canonised in 1601, the painter could not have had iconographical models prepared and was compelled to innovate in the compositions, a procedure rather unusual in the artistical catalan milieu of that time. The presence of the panels in the MEV from the beginning and the big celebrations whith which Vic feasted the canonsation of the saint in the beginning of 17th C are the reasons why Abril considers the provenance of this altarpiece from Vic as probable.

Marc Sureda Jubany

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Location

Room14 ,Floor1

9-10-11 Gothic Art

12-13-14 Renaissance

15-16 Textiles and Clothing

17 Glass

Detalls de l’obra

PLACE OF EXECUTION

Vic (?)

PERIOD

Between 1601 and 1607

Material

Oil painting on wood

Dimensions

173 x 263 cm

Origin

Provenance unknown

WORK NUMBER

MEV 772-774