ARAGONIAN SCHOOL C. 1450, ENTOURAGE DU MAÎTRE... Lot 29

ARAGONIAN SCHOOL C. 1450, ENTOURAGE DU MAÎTRE DE SAINT GEORGES ET LA PRINCESSE (Aragon or Catalonia c. 1450-1460) Biblical Prophet Altarpiece panel, rectangular, ogival arch in third point, Egg painting and gold background on wood panel. Inscribed on the phylactery, in black paint on a white background, Gothic letters: L F A Circle of the Master of St. George George and the Princess, Biblical Prophet, Altarpiece panel, rectangular, ogival arch in third point, Egg painting and gold background on wood panel. Inscription on the speech bubble, in black paint on a white background, Gothic letter: L F A 82,5 x 36 cm with frame - 32,5 x 14,2 in. with fram Despite the inscription, we cannot identify this figure. Without a halo, he cannot be a saint; his costume and beard seem to indicate a biblical figure. This suggested identity, together with the shape and size of the panel, makes it possible to establish its possible location within an altarpiece, either on the guardapolvos (the large protective frame of the altarpiece) or on the intermediate uprights between two main scenes, as is the case with the prophets of the Vallmoll altarpiece, ca. 1445-1450, by Jaime Huguet (Barcelona, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, inv. 64066). The execution of this hitherto unpublished panel is also related to Huguet's early works (Valls 1412-Barcelona 1492). The most convincing comparisons can be made between our panel and the Head of Daniel (fig. 1), a fragment preserved in the Prado Museum in Madrid. Its attribution to Huguet maintained by some historians (Ainaud de Lasarte, Gudiol y Alcolea) is contested by others (R. Alcoy) in favour of an anonymous master companion of Huguet, known under the convention name of the Master of Saint George and the Princess. This nickname comes from a triptych reconstructed by Bertaux who attributed it to Huguet; it comprised a central panel with Saint George and the Princess (Barcelona, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, inv. 15868) and destroyed side panels, formerly in Berlin (Kaiser Friedrich Museum) showing the donors and their patron saint, two members of the Cabrera family whose coat of arms is painted on the reverse, as well as the effigies of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at mid-body. (cf. Jaime Huguet 500 anys, p.224-225, no. 21) Around this triptych, Rosa Alcoy (op. cit., 2004, p.129 et seq. figs. 95-101) has grouped a series of works in a similar style, including the aforementioned prophet Daniel, an Annunciation and the Epiphany, two panels from Alloza (Zaragoza, Museu Provincial de Bellas Artes) as well as a prelude with prophets (private collection) and a few others. Whether or not this group of works was attributed to Jaime Huguet in the early years of his training, when he was working in Aragon, before 1448, the date of his definitive installation in Barcelona, or later during hypothetical trips to Saragossa during the presence of Archbishop Dalmau de Mur in that city (1431-1456) remains an open question among historians, for lack of documents, to which Alcoy suggests a possible solution: To attribute this set with a strong Aragonese sensibility, to the entourage of Huguet around 1450-1460. Our biblical character is part of this period. His confrontation with the prophet Daniel remains eloquent both by the expression, undoubtedly more austere of the character, and by the line of the drawing, graphic, focusing on the details of the hair of the beard, the highlighted contours of the lips and nose, characters that are also found in the Saints Peter and Paul on the reverse of the triptych of Saint George. However, a certain rigidity of stature and the rigidity of the gaze, perhaps due to the identity of the character, seem to distance him from the author of this last work and give it back to a close collaborator