Spanish school; XVI century.

Spanish school; XVI century.
"The Ascension of Christ".
Oil on pine board.
It presents faults, restorations and Repainting on the pictorial surface.
It has a XIX century frame.
Measurements: 96 x 66,5 cm; 115 x 85 cm (frame).
This work that represents one of the most relevant episodes of the New Testament does not faithfully follow the scriptures, since in this image we can appreciate the twelve apostles, while the biblical text only mentions the presence of Peter, James the Greater and John. It is the representation of the passage of the transfiguration of Jesus, an event narrated in the synoptic Gospels according to St. Luke, St. Mark and St. Matthew in which Christ metamorphoses, becoming a radiant figure in divine glory. In this way, Christ appears in the center, standing inscribed in a break of glory, floating above the apostles and the Virgin, who also contemplates, kneeling, the transfiguration of her son. The composition of the scene is defined by a clear symmetry where the figure of Christ acts as the axis of symmetry, with open arms following the shape of the cross, while in the lower area, on both sides, are the apostles, who have been represented as similar characters, bearded and with their faces tilted upwards to observe Jesus.
Spain is, at the beginning of the 16th century, the European nation best prepared to receive the new humanist concepts of life and art because of its spiritual, political and economic conditions, although from the point of view of the plastic forms, its adaptation of those implanted by Italy was slower due to the need to learn the new techniques and to change the taste of the clientele. The painting reflects this desire to return to the classical Greco-Roman world that exalts the individuality of man in his nudes, creating a new style whose vitality surpasses mere copying. Soon the anatomy, the movement of the figures, the compositions with a sense of perspective and balance, the naturalistic play of the folds, the classical attitudes of the figures began to be valued; but the strong Gothic tradition maintains the expressiveness as a vehicle of the deep spiritualistic sense that informs our best Renaissance paintings.