ESCUELA ESPAÑOLA, fns. S. XVI Lot n° 50

These two tables are two fragments that flanked the central street of an altarpiece, hence the orientation of the bodies of the characters and the direction of their glances. In the foreground we find a donor represented in each of them. Both characters appear kneeling in profile symmetrically looking towards the center. They wear black layers of black velvet with white lace cuffs and collars. The two portrayed have great physiognomic resemblance with sharp nose and short hair, one being older than the other. They join their large, elongated hands in a prayerful attitude looking up at their foreheads. After the donor of the left panel, we see St. John the Baptist standing with his head turning to his left. The saint wears a beige tunic under a large red mantle that covers his left shoulder and wraps around his waist. He has long curly hair and a brown beard. His face has fine angular profiles with a frown. With his right hand he holds a slender cane cross while with the other he points to the donor in front of him. Next to it, the head of a lamb appears. On the right table, after the donor, St. Peter stands wearing a white tunic and a large yellow mantle on his shoulders. In profile, he also looks to his right. With his right hand he holds two large keys, symbol of the Catholic Church, and with his right index finger he points at the centre of the composition. The two scenes are framed by cloths bordered with golden beads and marble polychrome in green and brown, probably from a later period. The pieces are topped by two female figures dressed in golden tunics with thick folds that are symmetrically recumbent in different positions with their backs to the centre. The inclusion of portraits of donors within religious painting was a custom that was used in Europe since the fifteenth century. His intention was to commemorate the person represented and his family for having financed and made possible the realization of these works and, in turn, to request pr