Altarpiece of Saint Barbara facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Altarpiece of Saint Barbara |
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| Artist | Gonçal Peris Sarrià |
| Year | Circa 1410–1425 |
| Type | Tempera and gold leaf on wood |
| Dimensions | 278 cm × 207.7 cm × 17 cm (109 in × 81.8 in × 6.7 in) |
| Location | Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona |
The Altarpiece of Saint Barbara is a beautiful old painting by an artist named Gonçal Peris. You can see this artwork at the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona. It was painted around 1410 to 1425.
Contents
What is the Altarpiece of Saint Barbara?
The Story of Saint Barbara
This painting tells the story of Saint Barbara. She is the main person in the middle of the artwork. In her right hand, she holds a palm branch. This branch is a symbol of someone who died for their beliefs, called a martyr. In her left hand, she holds a tower. This tower is important because it's where she was kept prisoner.
Above Saint Barbara, you can see a scene called Calvary. This shows Christ with his mother, Mary, and his friend, John. The wall behind them looks like the walls of Jerusalem.
Around the main picture, there are four smaller panels. These panels show eight different moments from Saint Barbara's life. These stories were written down in a old book from 1486 called Jardinet d’Orats.
The top left panel shows Saint Barbara getting baptized in a holy stream. It also shows her in front of a tower. Her strict father, Dioscorus, was building this tower to keep her locked up. Barbara told the builder to add a third window to the tower. For her, this was a way to show the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit).
Below this, on the bottom left panel, Dioscorus finds out his daughter has accepted a new faith. He threatens her with a sword. Barbara runs away into the forest. Her father chases her. A shepherd tells Dioscorus where she is hiding. Because of this, the shepherd is punished and turned into stone.
The top right panel shows the difficult times Saint Barbara faced. After she was caught, she was taken to a judge. She was sentenced to death after being treated badly.
The bottom right panel shows two more scenes. In one, the king and his helper are hit by lightning. In the other, an angel welcomes Barbara's soul.
At the very bottom of the altarpiece, there is a row of small pictures. These show other important religious figures. From left to right, they are: Saint Ursula, Saint Luke, a sad Mary, Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine.
Who was the Artist?
This altarpiece was painted by Gonçal Peris. He was a very important painter from Valencia during the Gothic period. His paintings are known for being very expressive and colorful. They have smooth lines and beautiful colors.
Gonçal came from a family of painters in the city of Turia. He learned his skills in the workshop of another painter named Pere Nicolau. When Pere Nicolau passed away, Gonçal took over his workshop. He became a very successful artist.
What is International Gothic Style?
Gothic painting was a popular art style between the 1200s and 1400s. It came after the Romanesque style. Like Romanesque art, Gothic paintings often showed religious figures. However, Gothic art focused more on human feelings and stories. This made the art feel closer to the people who saw it.
From the 1400s onwards, this style grew into the International Gothic style. The Altarpiece of Saint Barbara is a great example of this. This style was inspired by painters in cities like Florence and Siena in Italy.
International Gothic art is known for being fancy, detailed, and luxurious. It showed the rich lifestyle of the royal courts in Europe at that time. Valencia became a major center for this art style. It was a place where different art traditions came together.
Where Did the Painting Come From?
This painting originally came from a town called Puertomingalvo. This town is in Teruel, Aragon, Spain. We know this because of old photographs taken by a scholar named Juan Cabre. He took pictures of the altarpiece inside the Puertomingalvo church between 1908 and 1910. Other old photos also show the painting in this location.
See Also
- Gothic painting
- Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
- Altarpiece
