The Altarpiece of the Saints John stands as a major testament to the technical proficiency of Bernat Martorell, a central figure in Catalan art during the fifteenth century. Emerging from the Crown of Aragon, he redefined the International Gothic style through a mastery of detail, composition, and color that distinguished his output from the local traditions of his predecessors.
Artistic Origins and Style
Born in 1390 in Sant Celoni, Martorell established himself in Barcelona as a versatile practitioner in the fields of painting, illumination, and illustration. His work represents a departure from the stylistic norms established by earlier Catalan painters such as Lluís Borrassà. While scholars have noted technical parallels between his work and that of Pisanello, Sassetta, and Gentile da Fabriano, no documentary evidence confirms a direct link. His compositions often reflect an awareness of Flemish painting techniques, though the specific origins of this influence remain unrecorded.
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The only commission directly linked to the artist through surviving documentation is the Retable of Saint Pere de Púbol, commissioned in 1437 for a church in Púbol and completed in the early 1440s; it is currently housed at the Museu d'Art de Girona. Earlier in the 1430s, he produced Saint George and the Dragon, a tempera panel now in the Art Institute of Chicago. This work features a complexity of detail previously unseen in regional art. During this same period, he worked on manuscript illuminations for the Book of Hours and the Ferial Psalter, as well as the Predella of the Passion of Christ.
Later Career and Attribution Challenges
In the final years of his life, between 1445 and 1452, Martorell executed the Retable of the Transfiguration for the Barcelona Cathedral and the Main Retable of Santa Maria del Mar. His late period also involved collaborative design work; he is believed to have created the model for an altar frontal of Saint George, which the embroiderer Antonio Sadurní produced between 1450 and 1451. Attribution for other works, such as the Retable of Saint John the Baptist from Cabrera de Mar, remains a subject of historical dispute due to a lack of definitive documentation.
Fast facts
- Born: 1390, Sant Celoni
- Died: 1452, Barcelona
- Citizenship: Crown of Aragon
- Occupations: Painter, illustrator, illuminator
- Style: International Gothic
- Key work: Saint George and the Dragon
- Key work: Altarpiece of the Saints John
- Languages: Spanish, Catalan
Questions readers ask
What is the only work directly documented as his?
The Retable of Saint Pere de Púbol, commissioned in 1437 and completed in the early 1440s.
Did he work only as a painter?
No, he also worked as an illustrator and illuminator, and provided designs for embroideries and sculptures.
Achievements
- Notable work: Altarpiece of the Saints John
- Notable work: Saint George and the Dragon
- Movement: International Gothic
