Saint Vincent the Martyr

Bernardo de Arás combined the naturalistic trend of the mid-15th century with elements of the earlier international Gothic style. He is documented as having created several pieces for a variety of churches in the city and province of Huesca between 1433 and 1472. These included an altarpiece for the church of the Hospital of Our Lady of Hope (Hospital de Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza, San Lorenzo y San Vicente). The church faced the building that now houses the Huesca Museum, in the Plaza de la Universidad (University Square), which was known as Plaza del Hospital until the third quarter of the 19th century. The Saint Vincent the Martyr panel formed part of this set created between 1455 and 1470, and would have been positioned at the center of the altarpiece as the title saint. The work would have been crowned by another panel kept at the museum, titled Calvary. This method of depicting a saint—Saint Vincent in this instance—inside an aedicula or shrine, surrounded by angels or allegorical figures, is unique to Aragon. In this piece, four angels hold the attributes of Saint Vincent's martyrdom: the rack or X-shaped cross, iron hooks, mill wheel, and whips or scourges.