Follower of Joachim Patinir (Dinant, Belgium,... Lot n° 23

Follower of Joachim Patinir (Dinant, Belgium, circa 1480 - Antwerp, 1524). XVI - XVII century. 'Landscape with St. Christopher and Child.' Oil on panel. 29 x 40,5 cm. It has two handwritten collection numbers in the lower right margin: '44385' and '402'. We see the clear influence of Patinir in the importance of the landscape in the scene, where the theme, as the Prado explains to us that also happens with the master, ends up being 'a mere pretext to develop the landscape that becomes the main protagonist' of the composition. In fact, the Prado Museum, which is the institution that owns most of his work and which dedicated its first monographic exhibition to him in 2007, highlights Patinir's characteristic broad landscapes, which 'present high horizons with extensive countryside in which massifs of pointed rocks stand out, of a fantastic character, mixing the real and the symbolic', characteristics that we also find in the painting we present here. We also recognize in our oil painting 'a magnificent study of light and shadows [and] an excellent handling of color in which the delightful range of blues and greens stands out', properties that define Joachim Patinir, who was generously praised by his contemporaries and who 'anticipates the great Dutch masters of the 17th century', states the Prado, and develops with great creativity and mastery of execution 'a poetic imagination that allows him to express an idealized or pathetic world with deep feeling'. With the same theme, we find a panel by Patinir made around 1521 in Antwerp, in his last period, a few years before his death. Today it is exhibited in the Galería de las Colecciones Reales in Madrid (inv. 10014400). This beautiful work, which has more fantastic and symbolic elements than ours, some influenced by Bosch and others from Patinir's own imagination, is similar to our painting, not only because of the iconographic episode captured, but also because of the majesty of the landscape and the solitude of nature reflected in the scenes, in line with the idea of retreat and spiritual rest, as Carmen García-Frías Checa states in her file on the painting for the museum. St. Christopher, the 'Cristoforo', related to the symbolism of the bearer, since etymologically it means 'the one who carries Christ', is considered the patron saint of travelers, walkers, muleteers, boatmen, sailors, carriers, athletes, drivers, pilots and aviators. His devotion had a great boom after the Middle Ages. As Luis Monreal illustrates in his 'Iconography of Christianity', he was a martyr in Lycia during the persecution of Decius. Although there is confusing information about him, his historical existence is certain and surrounded by legends that gave him great popularity. He is presented as a giant of Canaanite origin and it is said that he belonged to the race of the cinocephalans, which evolved and took on a human appearance. Its best-known image is the one presented in our paintingas in the one we also analyzed, preserved in the Gallery of the Royal Collections: St. Christopher carrying the Child Jesus on his shoulders, crossing a river with difficulty, in a stooped attitude due to the heavy load of Jesus, who in turn carries the sphere of the world and using the saint a tree trunk as a staff, which sometimes is an entire palm tree, 'because according to legend it put and leaves bore fruit'. Often, as is also the case in both paintings, a hermitage is shown in the landscape, with a hermit guiding the saint with a lantern, assisting the miraculous transport from the other shore. As a curiosity, a peculiar representation of the saint shows him as a cinocephalus, that is, with a dog's head, similar to the Egyptian god Anubis. Reference bibliography: - Monreal y Tejada, Luis (2000). Iconography of Christianity'.El Acantilado. - Museo del Prado (n.d.). 'Patinir, Joachim'. https://www.museodelprado.es/aprende/enciclopedia/voz/patinir-joachim/2d6537b0-55e0-4586-9982-43aa3799ecfe. - García-Frías Checa, Carmen (n.d.). Landscape with St. Christopher and Child' (Paisaje con san Cristóbal y el Niño). Gallery of the Royal Collections. https://www.galeriadelascoleccionesreales.es/obra-de-arte/paisaje-con-san-cristobal-y-el-nio/113cc965-fed7-4c54-9ba8-faa3caaf679b.