Christ
Luis de Morales was celebrated for his devotional images.
Their exquisite facture and morbid sensibility made them perfect vehicles for meditation and earned him the epithet "El Divino."
He was the favorite painter of the religious reformer and saint Juan de Ribera (1532 - 1611).
As one prominent scholar has noted:"No Spanish painter was ever to surpass Morales in expressing the passionate, personal faith of the mystical writers."
This extremely fine picture was owned by Pope Pius VII and passed to his family upon his death in 1823.
The Last Judgment
This majestic scene is divided into heavenly and earthly zones, which are linked by two hovering angels blowing trumpets.
Christ appears at the moment of judgment in a burst of light and color, surrounded by clouds and putti and flanked by the apostles
He blesses the saved, shown at lower left, while Saint Michael shepherds the damned into hell burning in the distance at the right
The Marriage Feast at Cana
This was one of forty-seven panels representing the lives of Christ and the Virgin that were made for Isabella of Castile.
It represents the marriage feast at Cana, when Christ performed his first miracle turning water into wine.
Traditionally, the bride and groom are identified as Saint John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalen.
Here the two quite possibly are disguised portraits of Prince Juan, and Isabella's daughter-in-law, Margaret of Austria, who married in 1497.
Looking in from the courtyard at the left may be the portrait of a court functionary or possibly a self-portrait of the artist.
This was one of forty-seven panels representing the lives of Christ and the Virgin that were made for Isabella of Castile
It represents the marriage feast at Cana, when Christ performed his first miracle turning water into wine
Traditionally, the bride and groom are identified as Saint John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalen
Here the two quite possibly are disguised portraits of Prince Juan, and Isabella's daughter-in-law, Margaret of Austria, who married in
Looking in from the courtyard at the left may be the portrait of a court functionary or possibly a self-portrait of the artist