GIL DE ENCINAS (Zamora, active late 15th-early... Lot 36

GIL DE ENCINAS (Zamora, active late 15th-early 16th century). "Saint Bartholomew, Saint Jerome, Saint Sebastian and Saint Catherine". Set of four panel paintings. It will be accompanied by a report issued by Dr. Irune Fiz Fuertes, a specialist in 16th century Zamora painting. Provenance: - Pellisson Collection. On a label attached to the frame of the panels, handwritten inscription in blue ink: Mr George Pelisson. Each panel has a number which may correspond to the sales catalogue of this collection. All these works belonged to the same large altarpiece of which the elements of the predella undoubtedly formed part. Exportable. They show repainting and treated xylophages. With lack of polychromy and flaws in the wood of some of the frames. Some parts of the frames have been restored. The frames are made of gilded wood and have inscriptions in classical letters drawn in sgraffito on the background in gold leaf. Measurements: 58 x 43 cm; 72 x 52 cm (frame). This exceptional set of four panels attributed to Gil de Encinas represents each saint standing in front of a low wall decorated with a portico. Each image opens onto a lake or mountain landscape and is recognisable by its physical type or attributes, described according to Jacques de Voragine's Golden Legend: the knife and the devil in chains for Saint Bartholomew, the cardinal's habit and lion for Saint Jerome, the arrows of Saint Sebastian's martyrdom and the princess's diadem, the wheel and sword of Saint Catherine's martyrdom. The upper part of each panel is adorned with an ornamental arch surrounding the figures, carved in gilded wood and decorated with tracery that tops the image of each saint. Scholars of the artist link Gil de Encinas, a painter from Zamora whose biography is scarcely known, with the prolific school of the Master of Astorga, especially with his production in Zamora. The Master of Astorga is considered one of the leading artists of Renaissance Castile. It is true that not much biographical information is known about the artist, so that his name is unknown, although he was active in León at the beginning of the 16th century. He painted the Altarpiece of Saint Michael in Astorga cathedral, the Nativity of Christ with Saint Dominic and Saint Lawrence and the History of Saint James in the collection of the Museo Lázaro Galdiano and the five panels in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The panel of the Nativity with Saint Dominic and Saint Lawrence (Madrid, Museo Lázaro Galdiano) is particularly noteworthy as a valid point of comparison. There seems to be an eloquent comparison with the Nativity, an element of the Torre de Luzea triptych (Zarauz, Guipúzcoa, Banco Hispano Americano) by the Master of Zamora or working in the first third of the 16th century, where we find numerous points in common: the same setting, the same situation of the figures within the architecture and landscape, identical oblong and well-characterised faces of the figures and similar treatment of the clothing