Description

The only surviving embroidered altarpiece from Spain, this sumptuous work re-creates the characteristic elements of a painted retable from the Spanish kingdom of Castile. They include the base, or banco, with the Resurrection at its center, and a cult image of the enthroned Virgin and Child crowned by a small scene of the Crucifixion. In the wide fame, angels' heads alternate with the owner's arms, mimicking the dust guard or guardapolvos typical of painted altarpieces. Pedro de Montoya, the owner, was the active and worldly bishop of the diocese of Osma; he no doubt appreciated both the portability and rich surface offered by the embroidery.

The Abegg-Stiftung, a private foundation in Riggisberg, Switzerland, generously undertook the altarpiece's conservation as a gift in 2016.

Provenance

Pedro de Montoya, (died 1475), Soria, Spain [appointed Bishop of Burgo de Osma between 1454 and 1475; this and the following according to Davidson 1968]; given to the Cathedral of Burgo de Osma, Spain, probably between 1454 and 1475 [the alterpiece is listed in the inventory of the cathedral in 1600 in the chapel of St. Peter]. Lionel Harris (1862-1943), Spanish Art Gallery, London, 1916; sold to French and Company, New York [Museum Studies 2004: 95]; sold to Charles Deering (1852–1927), Sitges, Spain, and Miami, Nov. 11, 1961 [copy of Bill, French and Co.; copy in curatorial object file; note on incoming receipt; on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago from Nov. 22, 1923, incoming receipt, R1242, loan number 3244.23]; by descent to his daughters, Marion McCormick (1886-1965; born Marion Deering; also Mrs. Chauncey McCormick) and Barbara Danielson (1888-1982; born Barbara Deering; also Mrs. Richard Ely Danielson, 1888–1982); given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1927.

Altarpiece of the Virgin and Child

1460-1470

Accession Number

41449

Medium

Linen plain weave ground appliquéd with linen and: silk plain weaves and silk velvet; embroidered with silk floss and creped threads, gilt- and-silvered-metal-strip-wrapped silk threads, seed pearls and metal spangles