Altarpiece of The Joys of Mary

In the XIV century, Juan Ruiz, the Archpriest of Hita, wrote his Book of Good Love in which he narrated Mary’s seven joys– the Annunciation, the Nativity of Jesus, the Adoration of the Magi, the Resurrection of Christ, the Ascension of Christ to Heaven, the Pentecost and the Coronation of the Virgin-, passages that form the structure of many Spanish altarpieces. The topic, introduced in Valencia by the painter Pere Nicolau in 1401, was very popular in the entire territory of the Crown of Aragon during the XV century. As a crossroads between the Italian and Iberian Peninsulas, Valencia gave rise to artwork that brought back to life the influence of Florentine painting, especially that done by Giotto, and it was merged with local preferences.