Bartolomé Bermejo


Fascinating exhibition at the National Gallery looking at the work of the 15th century Spanish artists Bartolomé Bermejo.

I’ve always been fond of the gallery’s own picture by Bermejo, a St Michael fighting some wonderful surreal devils, so was fascinated to see other works by him. A lot of evidence points to him being a Jew who converted to Christianity which may explain why his career seems to have been quite itinerant as he was avoiding the Inquisition.

There are less than 20 known pictures by him and four of them were here. The commentaries were detailed and fascinating. As well as the St Michael there was the lovely “Virgin of Montserrat” which included the donor Francesco della Chiesa, with sinuous figures and wonderfully detailed flowers.

There was also a Pieta painted for Barcelona Cathedral with a lovely human St Jerome and donor figure and four panels from a big praedella of Old Testament prophets which may have been commissioned by a fellow Jewish convert.

Most magical though was the document in the case in the middle which was the first mention of Bermejo in the records which was a record from 1468 of the down payment for the gallery’s St Michael. This was probably the first time the document and finished work had been together.

Closes 29 September 2019

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Comments

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09 September, 2019
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