Christ among the Doctors
Master of the Catholic Kings·c. 1495/1497
Historical Context
This companion panel of Christ among the Doctors by the Master of the Catholic Kings depicts the twelve-year-old Jesus debating with the scholars in the Temple. The scene was popular in Spanish art for its emphasis on Christ's authority over religious learning, resonating with the Catholic monarchs' promotion of theological education and the Inquisition. Together with the Marriage at Cana, it formed part of a Christological cycle.
Technical Analysis
The oil on panel continues the Hispano-Flemish technique of precise detail and rich coloring. The architectural setting is rendered with the spatial sophistication absorbed from Netherlandish painting, while the figures' elaborate costumes show the decorative richness characteristic of Spanish taste.
Provenance
Possibly commissioned for a convent or church in Valladolid, Spain.[1] Before 1919, José María de Palacio, Conde de las Almenas, Madrid;[2] sold 28 March 1919 to (Frank Partridge and Sons, Ltd., London).[3] Dr. Preston Pope Satterwhite [1867-1948], New York, by 1933;[4] possibly purchased by (French & Co., New York).[5] purchased 1941 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[6] gift 1952 to NGA. [1] The probable patronage of the Catholic Kings has led Van der Put and subsequent commentators to posit that the altarpiece was commissioned for a church or convent in Valladolid. Albert van der Put, typescript, c. 1922, in NGA curatorial files. The painting has qualities characteristic of Spanish paintings in northern Castile during the reign of the Catholic Kings. Among cities in the region, Valladolid was the one most favored by the monarchs, who occasionally held court there. The theory that the panels were intended for an institution in Valladolid is plausible, but cannot be regarded as certain. Even if the paintings were created in northern Castile, they could have been commissioned for an institution in another part of Spain. [2] This painting is shown hanging on a wall of the Madrid residence of the Conde de las Almenas in a photograph in Arthur Byne and Mildred Shapley, _Spanish Interiors and Furniture_, 2 vols. (New York, 1922), 2: pl. 109. [3] Frank Partridge, memorandum, 1924, in the files of the Frick Art Reference Library, New York. [4] Chandler R. Post, _A History of Spanish Painting_ (Cambridge, Mass., 1933), v. IV, pt. II, 418. [5] From Colin Eisler, _Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian_ (Oxford, 1977), 178 and provenance card, NGA curatorial files; however in her 26 August 1988 letter, Martha Hepworth of the Getty Provenance Index indicates that these panels do not appear in the French & Co. stock books, which are now at the Getty. Robert Samuels, Jr., a representative of French & Co., searched the French & Co. records still kept at the New York office, but also was unable to find any references to the two panels. [6] Provenance card, NGA curatorial files. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/501.
