Valencian school; XVI century.

Valencian School; XVI century.
"Saint John the Evangelist".
Oil on pine board.
It presents faults and restorations.
It has frame of the eighteenth and nineteenth century.
Measurements: 57 x 31 cm.
This image collects an iconographic model of St. John the Evangelist rare, in which the saint appears holding a chalice with his right hand, from which comes out a green snake, while he approaches his hand towards the snake that emerges from the golden chalice. Until well into the 20th century, it was a tradition to bring bottles of wine or cider to mass that day, which would then be blessed. Thus, every time a bottle of wine or cider was opened in the house, a little of the wine blessed on the feast of St. John the Evangelist was to be poured into the new bottle. The tradition stems from a story associated with the saint's biography: it is told that, while in Ephesus, John was offered a cup of poisoned wine. Before drinking, he blessed the drink and the poison came out of the cup, in the form of a small green snake.
The Valencian school is different from the rest of the Spanish artistic centers of the time, thanks to the fact that during most of the 15th and 16th centuries there was an important settlement of Italian and Flemish painters. Thus, throughout the history of art Valencia has meant an important focus within the Spanish art the versatility of Valencian painting, conditioned by the Italian influence or the mannerist sensibility of the Castilian school. This work participates in this unique and syncretic style characteristic of the school.