Estimate

80.000 - 120.000

Session 1

6 June 2023

Hammer Price

Description

Oil on panel

135x90 cm

Category

Paintings

DIOGO DE CONTREIRAS (1500-1560)

Art History is now unanimous regarding the figure of Diogo de Contreiras, one of the most creative painters of the Portuguese Mannerism who would, by his own very personal style, and very early in his career, make himself independent from Gregório Lopes (ca. 1490-1550) models, while simultaneously maintaining an ability for absorbing, from novel experiences, the Italianised innovations in drawing as well as in composition and colour.
Contreiras’ biography has been fully identified, being certain that, between 1521 and 1563, the artist worked in Lisbon for the Kingdom’s most relevant patrons, namely for the Duque of Braganza, Teodósio (1510-1563), the Master Commander of the Military Order of Christ, Afonso de Lencastre (ca. 1505-1572), the Royal House nobleman João Rodrigues Português and the renowned Costa family, from Évora. This broad knowledge has evolved from the 1977-1978 Art History research project developed by Professor Vítor Serrão, who identified then the so-called Master of Saint Quentin as being in fact our Diogo de Contreiras.
Up until Serrão’s identification, this Master of Saint Quentin was often confused with the painter Gregório Lopes’ final phase, namely by Luís Reis Santos (1898-1967) in 1954, although always autonomized by Reynaldo dos Santos (1880-1970). In 1957, Saint Quentin was thoroughly researched by the Spanish Art Historian Martin Soria (1911-1961), who gathered a group of over thirty paintings that would later be reinforced by Vítor Serrão’s attributions.
The painting that we are now presenting for sale at auction, depicts Saint Benedict and Saint Bernard, respectively the creator of the Rule and the Reformer of the Order that gave origin to the Cistercians, and was part of a series that belonged to the female Cistercian Convent of Saint Mary of Almoster.
The virtuosity of Diogo de Contreiras is evidenced by the depictions of both Saints, Benedict’s and Bernard’s, embroidered capes, and mitres, as well as by the design of the opulent crosiers’ metalwork details, but also particularly by the flawless reproduction of the Turkish rug of fine Holbein design. Figures of typical “Contreirian” saints faces – Saint Benedict and Saint Bernard prevail in a composition that extends itself very skilfully in an interior, depicting the moment of the “Lactation of Saint Bernard”, and in an exterior with a Saint Benedict hagiographic moment.
In this exceptional painting we face a landmark of 16th century Portuguese painting, a substantiated masterpiece of one of the most significant renovators of Portuguese plastic language in the second quarter of the 16th century.



Literature:

AA.VV. – Grão Vasco e a pintura europeia do Renascimento: Galeria de Pintura do Rei D. Luís, 17 março a 10 junho 1992, Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, em colaboração com Secretaria de Estado da Cultura, Instituto Português do Património Cultural, Instituto Português de Museus, 1992;
CAETANO, Joaquim Oliveira - A identificação de um pintor in "Oceanos", n.º 13, Lisboa, 1993;
FLOR, Pedro Almeida – A autoria do Retábulo de Santa Maria de Almoster por Diogo de Contreiras (1540-1542), in ARTIS, Lisboa, Instituto de História da Arte da Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, 2004, n.º 3, pp. 335-34;
SERRÃO, Vítor e CAETANO, Joaquim Oliveira – A Pintura Maneirista em Portugal. Arte no Tempo de Camões, catálogo de exposição comissariada por Comissão Nacional para a Celebração dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, galeria de D. Luís, Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, Lisboa, 1995, n.º 8, pp. 194 e 195.
SERRÃO, Vítor – História da Arte em Portugal - o Renascimento e o Maneirismo, Lisboa, 2002
SERRÃO, Vítor – Os painéis da igreja de Unhos: séculos XVI - XVII, Boletim Cultural, nº 73-74, Lisboa, 1970, p. 27-52;