Âmbito da Oficina de Coimbra de Vicente Gil (act. Coimbra 1491-1518) e Manuel Vicente (filho) Santa Úrsula (?) e ...

Âmbito da Oficina de Coimbra de Vicente Gil (act. Coimbra 1491-1518) e Manuel Vicente (filho) Santa Úrsula (?) e São Lourenço Retábulo em madeira
Scope of the Coimbra Workshop of Vicente Gil (active in Coimbra 1491-1518) and Manuel Vicente (son). Saint Ursula (?) and Saint Lawrence. Altarpiece in wood with an inscription: "A * OBRA * MADOV * FASER * IOHAM * NOB (?) ... NA ERA DC (?) ..." Not signed. Approx. dimensions of each panel: 144 x 46 cm; Approx. total dimensions: 190 x 118 cm. Restored. This work participated in the important exhibition held in London in 1955 on Portuguese Art and is featured in the work "Nuno Gonçalves - Portuguese Painter of the Fifteenth Century and His Altarpiece for the Monastery of São Vicente-de-Fora," illustrated in the catalog (plates VIII and X by Reynaldo dos Santos, Phaidon Press edition), having been studied by the author during the exhibition, attributing it to the production influenced by Nuno Gonçalves. Later, the paintings were studied by Professor Pedro Dias in the 2003 exhibition, part of Coimbra Capital of Culture, titled "Vicente Gil and Manuel Vicente, painters of Manueline Coimbra," mentioned in the catalog, although they were not present in this exhibition. Its study and attribution, confirming the previous study published in: Joaquim de Oliveira Caetano, in "Os Valores Artísticos, Um século de Pintura," Nova História de Portugal, From the Renaissance to the Dynastic Crisis, Lisbon 1998, pp. 564-565, also the opinion of José Alberto Seabra, connect these two panels to the core of the Monastery of Jesus in Aveiro, which is in line with the first major work of Vicente Gil (who was still living in Lisbon in 1481) in Coimbra, the altarpiece of the main altar of Santa Clara-a-Antiga commissioned by Queen Leonor, which Baptista Pereira hypothetically reconstructed. It should be understood that the connection of the Bishop of Coimbra, D. Jorge de Almeida, to the Monastery of Jesus was significant, as he had relatives there, and even his coat of arms appears in the triptych of the Savior. There was also a connection to the polyptych of Sardoal, in the church of São Tiago, whose patron was D. Francisco de Almeida, the first viceroy of India, who lived in the Episcopal Palace of Coimbra before departing for the East. Today, the connection of these nuclei to the workshop in Rua das Azeiteiras, where Vicente Gil, Manuel Vicente his son, and the grandson Bernardo Manuel worked, commonly known as the "Master of Santa Clara," seems unanimous. This same workshop produced the triptych, lot 77 of auction 329, sold by Palácio do Correio Velho, representing Our Lady with the Child Jesus and two angels, belonging to the collections of MNAA and recently classified as National Treasure. A sincere thank you to Professor Dr. Pedro Dias for cataloging this piece.