Madonna with Music-Making Angels

Pere (Pedro) Garc�a, who came from Benabarra in Huesca, was active in Barcelona around 1455 and in L�rida around 1460. He is also mentioned in records dated 1479, but the date of this particular painting has been erased by time. His pictures display a felicitous blend of Flemish and Italian influences.

His Madonna with Music-Making Angels is a worthy successor of Pere Serra’s composition of similar theme which, in Pere Garc�a’s time, was the central panel of the altar in Tortosa Cathedral. Representations of the Virgin and Child in the company of music-making angels were very popular at that time; in these two paintings even the fabric of the garments and the shape of the seat of the throne were similar. In fifteenth-century pictures the artist frequently introduced an area of floor with an ornate, chequered pattern, for this gave him a chance to show his craftsmanship. In paintings by the less talented artists the floor was usually depicted as if viewed from above but in Pere Garc�a’s picture we can already perceive the Flemish influence at work; the painting reveals a degree of proficiency in the application of central perspective - a knowledge gained from Dalmau.