Juan Bautista Mayno
Art That move action figures. Lope de Vega
Maíno, natural de Pastrana (Guadalajara), whose father is from Milan, cloth merchant, adventurer by nature, and Portuguese English mother, trained as a painter in Italy, studying with the masters of the time. Clearly a double debt to the great Caravaggio painting, of whom could be a personal friend and the circle of the Carracci Bolognese classicist and Guido Reni. Returning to Spain, is produced in his life, as in other characters in the Golden Age, Lope think, who had to admire him, a moment of decisive change. After completing the painting of the altarpiece of San Pedro Martir in Toledo, his masterpiece, feels the call of God and making a habit of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans). Engaged in the study of philosophy and theology, and production will be cut. Not live, but too far from the Court, then it will be the future art teacher Philip IV and through influential Velazquez, who had favored in her youth (as well as to Alonso Cano), you receive the commission to paint a large canvas "The recovery of Bay" 2 for the Hall of Realms of the Palacio del Buen Retiro. Main (the old type in your name as Mayno), dies at her convent in Toledo, at the age of 70 years 3 . Its recovery as a master of the Baroque and the final assessment of his work 4 which includes mostly large religious compositions, but also portraits and small hitherto little known, it is possible and desirable to begin now, from this sample its catalog, the prohibitive price of 58 €, (a good "gift of kings") we are left with the desire to acquire.
The exhibition shows works of little or no religious themes Maíno known as the altar of the Trinity, commissioned by Anne of Morales to the convent of conceptions of Pastrana, his hometown and interesting pictures like the brown San Anab, that of Archbishop José de Melo and all "portrait of monk" of the Museum of Oxford Ashmodeam, possible self-portrait. Mention, in the genre, it deserves the "Portrait of a gentleman" 5, only signed by Maine (left, center), still tax portraits of El Greco, inevitable influence denotes a warmer palette than the Cretan.
What interested me most of the exhibited work of Maine are the four large compositions for the altarpiece of San Pedro Martir de Toledo 6 : Adoration of the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Magi, Pentecost and Resurrection Christ calls Four Easter, works of substance in which Maíno stripe perfection of his art.
These paintings have always been considered the most significant work of Maine and the one that best defines the components of his style, the author was hired in 1612, finished just one year later. In these paintings is evident the influence of Caravaggio, for example in the modeling, the popular aspect of the people (shepherds, angels), on display in the soles of the feet and the placement of the figures. Other aspects, however, as the fascinating colors, reminiscent of Gentileschi. Personally I was struck by the beauty and delicacy of the faces, for example in the Virgin of the Adoration of the shepherds and the attention to detail and ornamentation, as in the Adoration of the Magi, the best of the four paintings. Note also the use of space in the compositions is not as easy as it looks.
The Adoration of the Shepherds. Altar of the Four Easter
Adoration of the Magi. Altar of the Four Easter
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Pentecost. Altar of the Four Easter
Important are also, despite its smaller size, the paintings were indeed in the predella of the altarpiece: Juanes saints, namely St. John the Evangelist on Patmos and St. John the Baptist in a landscape. Here are the least of the figures and what matters most landscape that occupies most of the pictures and where is the advantage of studying Roman Maine sobre el paisaje, “ de allí proceden la serena y umbrosa be lleza de esos horizontes, ordenados en bandas paralelas, con delicadeza clásica y serna melancolía, asi como la gama de entonaciones grises y verde tan característica ” 7. Otras cuatro pinturas que se exhiben en esta exposición, Santo Domingo de Guzmán y Santa Catalina, San Antonio Abad en un paisaje y La Magdalena penitente pudieron también formar parte de este retablo, según la propuesta que se nos hace.
Propuesta de reconstrucción del retablo de San Pedro Mártir, según figura en la exposición: 1. Santo Domingo de Guzman, 2. St. Catherine of Siena, 3. San Antonio Abad in a landscape; 4. The Penitent Magdalene 5. Pentecost 6. The Resurrection of Christ, 7. The Adoration of the Shepherds, 8. The Adoration of the Magi, 9. San Juan Bautista in a landscape: 10. St. John the Evangelist in Patmos .
The altarpiece of San Pedro Martir must have caused astonishment in the Imperial City for its monuments, sumptuous colors and design of each composition as evidenced by the fact that it was later imitated 8 Ponz, during his visit to the convent and church in 1769 praises the altarpiece that says " is one of the best on Toledo " and for the paintings of Maíno writes that "they said in their great ingenuity of invention, knowledge of chiaroscuro, drawing and color a lot of practice" 9.
The altarpiece of the church of the Dominican convent remained the paintings of Maine to the secularization of the religious, due to the decrees of the minister disentailing Mendizabal (1835). Since then, the paintings of the Four Easter Maíno Juan Bautista suffered a hard journey whose track I have taken to pursue the necessary consultation 10
sources
The provisions on the abolition of monasteries and religious contained 11 measures of protection and safeguarding of buildings, archives, libraries, paintings and other art objects from the deleted establishments, despite which could not (or did not want to avoid) the indentation of these works of art that were many of them object of prey and destruction. To curb or stop this situation, the Government of Maria Cristina appointed a National Commission, which is, to the Academy of San Fernando, the ballot to save what could be provincial heritage property and bring disentailed Madrid those with the most valuable pieces to form after a National Museum. To this end, the Academy appointed commissioners to travel from Madrid to the neighboring provinces. One of these commissioners, Juan Galvez, moved to Toledo where he was collecting "treasures" from March to June 1836. In these four months, collected for the future National Museum 91 paintings of Toledo suppressed convents, including six paintings of the Four Easter altarpiece of the church of San Pedro Martir 12.
With all the paintings and sculptures that could pick out, plus the collection of paintings seized the infant Sebastian Gabriel, joined the ranks of Carlism 13 opened on July 24, 1838, the National Museum Trinidad, "something not very perfect " situated in Convent of the same name in Atocha Street, off the Plaza Mayor, where 516 paintings displayed in public, including the Father Mayno on which José Madrazo wrote to his son Frederick, recommending the visit:
"You see the monk Mayno some pictures, with various parties, executed with a prodigious variety in imitation and in such an arrest and concluded that seems No authors Flemish big."
The paintings remained in the Museum of Painting and Sculpture of the Trinity, which had a turbulent history until its merger with the Museo Nacional del Prado by Royal Decree of 22 March 1872, but there you are that after the merger, the Ministry of Development had the "bright idea" to get rid of the funds that no longer fit in the Museo del Prado, giving it in trust to provincial museums, churches, universities and other centers of varied nature, many of them without direct link with Art. Sánchez Pérez is what he called the "dissolution" or rather the "vo 
latización" of funds from the Museo de la Trinidad. In implementation of such "smart" decision, the altarpiece of the Four Easter Maino was dispersed. Two of his paintings: The Adoration of the Shepherds and the Resurrection of Christ were to stop Balaguer Museum to the Library of Vilanova i la Geltrú (1883), opened in those years and another, more unfortunate, first to the cathedral of Córdoba (1896), later the Archaeological Museum of Toledo, where he suffered severe damage during the war civil, as shown in the accompanying photograph, which was forced to reduce its dimensions, becoming in 1939 the Museo del Prado and finally went to the Museum of Balaguer was stolen in 1981, returning to damage 14. The ensemble was gradually gathering in the Prado Museum to be completed in the 80's of last century. In the catalog of the paintings from the Prado Museum in 1985 and contained the four tables.
And how was the altarpiece of San Pedro Martir stripped of the paintings of Maine?, I asked myself after my visit to the exhibition. I asked what writes about Sixto Ramón Parro, 15 just twenty years after the secularization of the monks (1835), when they moved to this set of buildings welfare facilities of Toledo (including, maternity, nursing, hospital ) in 1846, this author relates that "filled the gaps those beautiful paintings in the altar with other destitute complet catkins merit that represent some saints of the Dominican Order, but considered art objects is necessary to close your eyes for not seeing . " Nearest reference (1983) is the Artistic Inventory capital Toledo 16, which is a photograph of the altar and the provision of detail that "the paintings represent, left, Santa Rosa de Santa Maria and San Vincent Ferrer, on the right, Santa Ines de Monte Policiano and San Jacinto ", no mention of possible perpetrators.
Not satisfied at all, I have planted in Toledo (half an hour from Madrid, AVE), with the purpose of seeing the altarpiece and frescoes Maino can still be seen in the choir loft and the two niches of the sanctuary 17 but, alas!, I have found the church closed for renovation, no one knows for how long, (I have not seen sign that says so) and also a friendly voice tells me anonymous, contacted by phone, to visit this church normally required special permission from the Vice Chancellor of the University of Castilla La Mancha, which depends on the campus of San Pedro Martir. I have to conform, as with a visit to the cloisters, mingling with the students of Law and to take a photograph of the facade of the church and its beautiful Mudejar tower. Luckily
-everything has its compensation, which is next to the church of the Jesuits (Plaza de Juan de Mariana) and from its daring gazebo you can enjoy a wonderful view of Toledo gives the effort well spent by the ascension to the top of its twin towers. The visit to the interior of this Baroque church, on payment of 2.30 €, it is also interesting.
Finally, in concluding this article, I propose to the reader, two exercises: a) the essential visit to the exhibition of Maine (until January 17, 2010), b) the voluntary reading of the legend " The Kiss "by Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, both literary pleasure, for the current connection of the stone figures of his characters with the church of San Pedro Martir.
© Manuel Martínez Bargueño
December, 2009
1. Serraller. A candle in the darkness baroque. El Pais, October 17, 2009.
6. may not be correct attribution of Juan Bautista Monegro altarpiece, as I have read in the exhibition. According to research by Fernando Marias, the architecture of the altar and the sculptures are Giraldo de Merlo and his line in 1611 assemblers Thomas and Gaspar Miguel Cerezo.
7. "The Toledo of El Greco." Ministry of Culture. Directorate General of Fine Arts, Archives and Libraries. City of Toledo. Diputación Provincial de Toledo. Fundación Casa Ducal Medinaceli.1982. p.172.
8 Tristan copied elements of the Adoration of the Magi at the altar of Yepres (Toledo) and Orrente incorporated into many of his compositions lying half-naked figures, inspired by Maino.
9. Antonio Ponz. Travel in Spain, 1 (Volumes I-IV), Aguilar, 1988, p. 195.
10 The story follows up new note is extracted from the study "Arts and nation. Notes on the history of the National Museum of the late Professor José Álvarez Lopera, in "The Museum of the Trinity in the Prado." Museo Nacional del Prado, 2004.
11. Royal Decree of July 4, 1835, by abolishing the Society of Jesus, the Royal Decree of July 25, 1835 by abolishing the monasteries and religious convents did not have at least a dozen individuals and Royal Decree of March 8, 1836, general suppression of monasteries and convents, and finally, the Law of 22-29 July 1837 suppression of all monasteries, convents, schools , congregations and other religious houses of men and women on the mainland, islands and possessions of Spain in Africa.
12. The return of the collection to the Infante Don Sebastián Gabriel occurred in 1859.
13. Toledo was at that time, as reported by the commissioner, a souk where monks and nuns were selling hand over fist to some foreigners "under color in my concept of make some visits and make motives of some fragments are in this city by negotiations. " The situation should be similar in other cities like Sevilla, where witnesses said the artwork sold to foreigners in circulation "in cars"
14. In The Toledo of El Greco "contains the information that this picture was deposited in the Museum since 1972 and Balaguer deVillanueva Geltrú to theft (serious attack from the catalog of the Museo del Prado, 1985), 1981, he returned to restored after damage (p.175).
15. Sixto Ramón Parro. "Toledo in hand." Volume II. Printing and library Severiano Lopez Fando, 1857, p.61.
16. Inventory Toledo artistic capital, Volume I. National Information Center for Art, Archaeology and Ethnology, 1983, p. 204.
17. On the wall of the feet, under the choir, stood an angel musicians Gloria framing an image of the Virgen del Rosario, sculpted by Giraldo de Merlo. In the soffit of the arch that holds the chorus appear on both sides the figures of Moses and Aaron, with their attributes, tables of the law and the rod flourishing, carried by children. Above them on signs held by "putti" will depict scenes of "The Burning Bush" and "meeting between Moses and Aaron." Downtown, the clouds, the Holy Spirit and in the most extreme of the arc runs a decorative band of grotesques in small niches which represent the theological virtues and compass bearing in its center to Charity. arcosolia In both repeated in larger size to the cardinal virtues, grouped in pairs. These cool match, in the opinion of experts, to a time not far from the the altar cloths and they are noticeable influences from the Italian masters Guido Reni, Saraceni, Elshesmer and Gentileschi, father and daughter. Naturally I read it, and so story, but I have not seen.
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