The Presentation of Christ and the Purification of the Virgin Mary in the Temple

In the mid-20th century this panel was in Torre de Luzea (Guipúzcoa) where it was attributed to an anonymous Castilian master. In 1987 Díaz Padrón attributed it and its pair (The Adoration of the Magi) to an anonymous artist whom he termed The Master of Fuentelcarnero on the basis of similarities that he detected between figures in these two works and those in an altarpiece in the village of that name near Zamora (Museum of Toledo, Ohio, and subsequently on the art market). He connected this artist with the so-called Masters of Astorga and Zamora. The origins of their style lies in the work of Juan de Borgoña (documented in Toledo from 1495 until his death in 1536). In recent years new works have come to light by Juan de Borgoña’s son and by Lorenzo de Ávila, both of whom studied with him and were active in Toro in the second third of the 16th century, but their style does not correspond to that seen in the panels formerly in Luzea. In addition, it is evident that the artist of these two panels is not the same artist who painted a Nativity that the present author has attributed to a Toledan follower of Borgoña and who seems to be have been an assistant with less ability in the depiction of the faces and the proportions of the figures.

The influence of Borgoña is nonetheless evident in this panel, albeit less overtly, in the harmonious arrangement of the figures and the architectural setting, including the floor. The scene of the boys reading or looking at another one with a bird is unusual and is clearly not derived from the Gospel account (Luke 2, 22-24). Another element worth noting is the fact that in a gesture of respect, the high priest uses a cloth to take hold of the Christ Child so as not to touch him.