October 14, 2012 |
8) The Arrest of Christ, c1527, Alejo Fernandez, shown by Richard L Feigen & Co
Renaissance-era Seville must have been a good place to be an artist. Silver from the New World was flowing through its streets: new money that brought with it new buildings and plenty of patrons. Painters from all over Europe descended upon its cosmopolitan streets, making work and swapping styles. Here, in the early decades of the 16th century, Alejo Fernandez became a go-to man for church and state, creating works that fused the attention to detail and finer lines of Flemish schools with the solid figures built through painted light and shade that had been pioneered by artists of the Italian Renaissance.
This oil and gold-leaf panel has recently been attributed to Fernandez and dated to around 1527 through a finicky process of compare and contrast with his best-known works. It shows The Arrest of Christ, the moment when Judas closes in for the kiss of betrayal. For all the detail of their chain-mail armour, the soldiers here are scarcely more significant than background decoration – all black lines over gold leaf, their clearly outlined silhouettes give them the appearance of floating phantoms. What matters is the Son of God. He’s as heavy and irrefutable as a hunk of Roman marble. So, too, Judas – you can almost feel the grip of his treacherous hand.
Alejo Fernandez (c1475-c1545)
The Arrest of Christ
Oil and gold leaf on panel
43.3 x 36.22in (110 x 92cm)
Courtesy of Richard L Feigen & Co
by Skye Sherwin
