MASTER 'BENITO'ACTIVE IN PALENCIA, FIRST HALF OF THE 16TH CENTURY | The Virgin and Child

Private collection, Barcelona;
On the art market, Netherlands;
On the art market, New York;
Probably acquired by a forebear of the present owner in the 1960s or early 1970s.  

M. Diaz Padrón and A. Padron Merida, 'Cuatro versions de la 'Virgen con Niño' por cuatro maestros castellanos del siglo XVI', in Boletin del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueologia, vol. LIV, Valladolid 1988, pp. 396 and 399, reproduced fig. 2 (as Maestro Benito);
M. Weniger, 'Sobre a Producion y Formacion de Benito, Pintor del Rinascimento Palentino', in Archive espanol de Arte, vol. LXII, no. 286, April – June 1999, p. 146, note 6 (as Maestro Benito).

The uncradled panel appears to be made of a single plank, and is flat and stable. The paint surface is dirty, and the varnish clear and even. Certain areas of the paint surface appear fairly worn, most notably the figures' flesh tones. There is an area of restored damage in the Virgin's chest, approx. 3 x 3 cm. There are small spots of paint loss and associated retouchings scattered in the Virgin's robe, centre and upper centre, as well as visible retouchings to surface cracking in the lower right and upper left corners; in the latter, the panel also appears uneven and there is some paint loss along the upper margin above Her head. inspection under ultraviolet light confirms all these, as well as fine lines of retouching scattered throughout their flesh tones to reduce the appearance of craquelure, and there is a more concentrated spot approx 1 by 2cm above the Virgin's proper right hand. in overall fair condition. Offered in a gilt and painted wooden frame with punching.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Maestro Benito, who is known only by his first name, was one of the associates and followers of the great Juan de Flandes (circa 1460–1519), the Flemish painter who worked at the court of the Catholic Queen Isabella of Castile. He is recorded in the Registro de Cuentas of Juan de Flandes, the court painter to the Queen, made in 14 March 1522 for the Retable Major of Palencia, and we know that his workshop was established in the calle of Santa Fe in that city. His artistic career has always been assumed to been in Palencia and purely as a disciple or assistant of Juan de Flandes, but in his recent study of the High Altarpiece of St. Peter's Church in San Pedro de Montealegre (today in the province of Valladolid), Matthias Weniger has argued that Benito's work was probably more wide-ranging and independent. Maestro Benito has long been associated with the large panel of the Martyrdom of Saint Ursula, completed around 1531, which originally decorated the altar of the Chapel of the Eleven Thousand Virgins in the cathedral of Palencia and which shows that the Master's style was responsive to the new influence of the works of Raphael and his followers.¹ As Diaz Padrón and Padron Merida observed, the distinctive style of the heads of both the Virgin and the Christ Child, with their shadowed and lidded eyes and large foreheads, find ready parallels with those of the eponymous saint and her attendants in the altarpiece in Palencia.² The Christ Child is shown holding in his left hand an orb surmounted by a cross, while raising his right hand in benediction, symbolic of his role as the Saviour of Mankind.³

1 See, for example, C.R. Post, A History of Spanish Painting, vol. IX, part I, The beginning of the Renaissance in Castile and Leon, Cambridge, Mass. 1947, pp. 468–470; and I. Vandevivere, Juan de Flandes, exh. cat., Madrid 1986, p. 101.
2 See Post 1947, reproduced fig. 170.
3 See M. Trens, María. Iconografía de la Virgen en el arte español, Madrid 1947, p. 612.