Spanish School; end of the XVI century.

Spanish School; late sixteenth century.
"Calvary".
Oil on panel.
With the lateral figures separated.
Measurements: 71 x 49.5 cm (central panel), 33 x 15 cm (side panels).
This canvas shows the Crucifixion with the Virgin, Mary Magdalene and St. John the Evangelist. In Western art, the representation of Christ on the cross was preferred, as a narrative scene, and the figure of St. John the Baptist was replaced by that of John the Evangelist. An image that in its conception and form is the result of the expression of the people and the deepest feelings that nestled in it. With the economy of the State broken, the nobility in decline and the high clergy burdened with heavy taxes, it was the monasteries, the parishes and the confraternities of clerics and laymen who promoted its development, the works sometimes being financed by popular subscription. Painting was thus forced to capture the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when the Counter-Reformation doctrine demanded from art a realistic language so that the faithful would understand and identify with what was represented, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content to increase the fervor and devotion of the people. The religious subject is, therefore, the preferred theme of the Spanish sculpture of this period, which in the first decades of the century starts from a priority interest in capturing the natural, to progressively intensify throughout the century the expression of expressive values, which is achieved through the movement and variety of gestures, the use of light resources and the representation of moods and feelings.
Due to the technical characteristics, such as the modeling of the forms, the tonalities used, the type of composition, and even the aesthetic details used in the treatment of the canvases that make up the scene, this work can be inscribed within the Renaissance school. It shows the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John at her feet, an iconographic form evolved from the original Byzantine Déesis, which represented Christ in Majesty accompanied by Mary and St. John the Baptist. In Western art, the representation of Christ on the cross will be preferred, as a narrative scene, and the figure of St. John the Baptist will be replaced by that of John the Evangelist. Another significant change, which seeks greater naturalism, is that while in the Byzantine model both the Virgin and St. John have their faces raised or oriented towards Christ, with their hands in a position of supplication on behalf of humanity, here they are shown mourning in the classical manner.