BERMEJO, Bartolomé

One of the leading Spanish artists of the last third of the fifteenth century was Bartolom� Bermejo. The signature “Bartolomeus Vermeio Cordubensis” on the Pietà in Barcelona cathedral, one of his later works, completed in 1490, indicates that he was born in Cordova. At the same time, there is nothing in the Andalusian art of that period to explain the origin of his style or the source of his technique. We believe that Bermejo must have studied in Flanders, perhaps in direct contact with Dirk Bouts (1420-75), with whom he has certain stylistic affinities. In spite of this Flemish training, Bermejo’s work leaves us in no doubt concerning his Spanish origin. Robust, virile, and dramatic, it is characterized by a profound gravity, the counterpart of the lyrical refinement so typical of the Spanish genius.

The painting represents the event which followed Christ’s descent to Limbo. In this vissionary Late Gothic painting some new Renaissance elements can be also observed (the door with cassettes and the wall).

The influence of Flemish painting, especially of Rogier van der Weyden, can be observed.

This panel belonged to the Retable Santa Engracia the parts of which are now divided among various collections.

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This small yet powerful panel shows the influence of Hugo van der Goes, it may have been Bermejo’s variant of a major work by Hugo.

Originally the panel, signed as ‘Bartolomeus Bermejo Cordubensis’ belonged to the funeral monument of Canon Despl�, who commissioned it. The donor’s portrait-like realistic representation is on the right. The background is emphasized more strongly than in contemporary Spanish painting.

The triptych was commissioned by Francesco della Chiesa, a merchant in the town of Acqui. The donor is seen kneeling at the side of the Virgin. The style of the lateral wings differs from that of Bermejo’s central panel, they were executed by another Spanish artist, Rodrigo de Osona.

Bartolom� de C�rdenas, known as Bermejo, was a master of detail. In the background of his picture of the Resurrection, now in Barcelona, he depicted in an area of scarcely more than a few square centimetres, a beautiful landscape in which the representation of rocks and foliage is as delicate as anything by D�rer. But though the effect of light is depicted most exquisitely, there is very little plasticity in the representation of the face of the learned abbot which, in fact, almost merges into the radiance of the golden background. Of paramount importance to Bermejo was the representation of every detail of the embroidered cope, the splendid mitre, the amazingly intricate Gothic carving on the throne (itself almost an architectural feat) and every vein of the marble floor. The total effect of splendour makes the painting seem like a lavishly gilt chalice or a prelate’s vestment that have taken several years to embroider rather than an example of the art of painting.

This work came from an altarpiece dedicated to St Engracia and commissioned for the town of Daroca, in the province of Saragossa.

In the year 304 the young Portuguese noblewoman Engracia was on her way to Roussillon to meet her betrothed. Passing through the Spanish city of Saragossa, she realised that Dacian, a proconsul in the court of Emperor Diocletian, was persecuting Christians. When she reproached him for his cruelty, Dacian - portrayed on the left of the composition - subjected her to torture.

The painting reveals Bermejo’s interest in three-dimensional space, suggested by means of the perspective lines of the floor tiles, the capitals and the canopy of Dacian’s throne. The Roman proconsul is dressed as a Moor, a licence the painter took to convey the idea of evil to loyal Spaniards of the period. Another prominent feature is the marked naturalism of St Engracia’s anatomy and of the faces of the executioner and others characters impassively witnessing the martyrdom. Bermejo was very skilled in depicting different materials, such as the marble of the columns, and the floor and the velvet of the saint’s robe; on Dacian’s throne he applied transparent layers of paint to a golden ground. All these skills were made possible thanks to his command of oil painting, which he no doubt learnt in Flanders.

Bermejo is prominent among those Spanish painters who fully assimilated the Flemish style and stands out, above all, as one of the most original artists of the period.