Commented works: Images For Conversos, Images Of Conversos

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Bernat Martorell, Detall Retaule dels sants Joans

34 - Juan de la Abadía the Elder (act. in Aragon)

Passion of the Christ of Beirut
c.1500. Oil on panel

The painting evokes the legendary episode of the ill-treatment some Jews of Beirut inflicted on a wooden crucifix, imitating the Passion of Christ. As a result of the aggressions the crucifix came to life and began to bleed, signalling the sacred nature of images and, accordingly, the advisability of worshiping them. During the 13th and 14th centuries representations of this anti-Jewish story were one of the main visual arguments for legitimating the Christian cult of images in the West.

BEQUEST OF MR. LYNN DINKINS, 38.3
NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART, NEW ORLEANS

35 - Pietà

c. 1462. Burin

In 1462 a Jew of Tortosa was accused of deliberately trampling on an engraving of the Pietà in one of the city's streets. Unusually, the torn print is still preserved. It was stitched together and included as prosecution evidence among the records of the court proceedings brought against the Jew. Used for centuries for incriminatory and slanderous purposes, charges of desecrating sacred images played a major role as evidence in the inquisitional trials of Jews and conversos.

Arxiu Històric Diocesà, Tortosa (Tarragona)

36 - Juan Sánchez de San Román (act. in Seville)

Christ Man of Sorrows
c. 1500. Oil and gold leaf on panel

Direct and moving, this small portrait of Christ is the result of a skilful compromise between Flemish illusionism and the iconic formulas characteristic of cult images. It is consistent in theme and date with the ideas advocated by the converso bishop Hernando de Talavera, who in 1478 decreed the compulsory use of devotional images in households to encourage the practice of Christianity in converso environments.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Gil de Siloé (act. in Burgos)

Christ on the Cross
c. 1488–90. Polychrome wood

This crucified Christ presided over an altarpiece funded by the converso bishop Alonso de Burgos in the friary of San Pablo in Valladolid. Given his close collaboration with the Holy Office, the choice of subject matter, besides springing from the devotional motives typical of any faithful Christian, may have been influenced by the fact that the crucifix was a common symbol of inquisitorial propaganda. The image is designed to express the orthodoxy of the faith and to appeal to all Christians committed to defending it.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

38 - Antoniazzo Romano (act. in Rome)

Bust of Christ
c. 1495. Tempera on panel

The converso Juan López settled in Rome, fleeing from accusations of crypto-Judaism. There he commissioned Antoniazzo Romano to paint the Triptych of the Saviour, whose central image, this bust of Christ, is based on the icon of the Sancta Sanctorum in the palace of St John Lateran. Besides expressing a devotional sentiment, the work is an effective vehicle for religious affirmation—a radically traditional cult image used by its patron to express his attachment to the Christian faith and allay suspicions of Judaising.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

39 - Christ of the Vine

c. 1400. Vine wood and roots

Its sacred character and miraculous nature are two defining features of this crudely carved vine trunk that resembles a Christ on the cross. A Jew of Toledo found it around 1400 while pruning his vineyard and the discovery immediately prompted him to convert to Christianity. Donated to the monastery of San Benito in Valladolid, it was venerated by the vintners’ guild and paraded in processions in the 18th century to pray for an end to droughts and floods.

Museo Diocesano y Catedralicio de Valladolid

40 - Master of the View of Saint Gudula (act. in Brussels)

Preaching Saint Vincent c. 1470–80. Tempera on panel

The Dominican Saint Vincent Ferrer, one of the most active early 15th-century preachers, placed particular emphasis on evangelising Jews and Muslims. It is very likely that he used images to make his sermons more effective. This is how he is portrayed in this panel, where one hand performs a preaching gesture and the other displays a small panel painting of the Last Judgement to a group of people including Jews in exotic caps.

Convento de Nuestra Señora de las Caldas
Las Caldas de Besaya, Los Corrales de Buelna (Cantàbria)

41-42-43 - Bernat Martorell (act. in Catalonia)

Birth of Saint John the Baptist
Saint John the Baptist engaged in Disputation with the Priests and Levites
Saint John the Baptist preaching
c. 1450. Oil on panel

These panels, from the altarpiece from Vinaixa (Lérida), depict the birth of Saint John the Baptist—in a Jewish setting with a midwife sporting the characteristic badge—and his subsequent preaching to his people about the imminent coming of the Messiah. His half-open mouth and finger gestures illustrate his eloquence. A statement about the power of words, the paintings should be viewed in the light of the evangelising campaigns carried out in the 15th century.

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona
Col·lecció Casacuberta Marsans

44 - Juan de Nalda (act. in Provence and Castile)

Virgin of Mercy
c. 1500. Oil on panel

The presence on the Virgin’s right of two Jews wearing the characteristic hooded tunics and a turban-clad Muslim beside the monarchs and ecclesiastic authorities protected by the Virgin’s cloak is, once again, a reference to the possibility of salvation through conversion. This stance was defended by various sectors of Christian society far removed from the intransigent positions that finally prevailed. The painting originally comes from the monastery of Santa Clara in Palencia.

Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid

45 - Bartolomé Bermejo (act. in the Crown of Aragon)

Descent of Christ into Limbo
c. 1474–79. Oil and gilding on panel

Like Christ with the Just in Paradise, this panel comes from the predella of the altarpiece of Saint Dominic of Silos in Daroca (Zaragoza). The ensemble was commissioned by some parishioners of that church, among them the converso merchants Juan and Mateo de Loperuelo. The Old Testament characters are rescued from the flames of Hell and join the chosen few as they accept that Christ is the Messiah. This explains why they are shown prostrated before an image of Christ on the cross. Both panels allude to conversion.

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona

46 - Bartolomé Bermejo (act. in the Crown of Aragon)

Christ with the Just in Paradise
c. 1474–79. Oil and gilding on panel

The figures of the Forefathers and Old Testament prophets were essential in devising a less aggressive assimilation discourse. Presenting them as early converts enabled 15th-century New Christians to demand their own place in society on the understanding that Christ himself, like the patriarchs and prophets, had Jewish blood running through his veins. It reaffirmed the transition from a Jewish past to a sincere Christian present.

Fundació Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic
(en dipòsit al Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona)

47 - Bartolomé Bermejo (act. in the Crown of Aragon)

Christ of the Pietà
c. 1471–76. Oil on panel

Bermejo may have devised this image for a converso of Daroca. It is an orthodox Christ of the Pietà (chalice, wounds) though certain elements underline the client’s particular status. The translucent muslin loincloth, besides evidencing Christ’s human condition, hints that he is circumcised. Another significant aspect is the choice of Hebrew for the inscription that proclaims his divinity and his power over death.

Museu del Castell de Peralada, Peralada (Girona)

48 - Nicolás Francés (act. in Leon)

Crucifixion (attic of the Altarpiece of the Lives of the Virgin and Saint Francis)
c. 1445–60. Oil and tempera on panel

According to certain legends Longinus, the pagan soldier who speared Christ, converted to Christianity after his sight was restored by the blood gushing from Jesus’ wound. Kneeling at the foot of the cross and dressed in a green tunic decorated with a pseudo-Hebrew inscription in gold lettering, he holds the spear while wiping his eyes with the miraculous blood. Here Longinus embodies the Christian cliché of the Jews’ blindness and the Augustinian argument of conversion in recognition of the Messiah’s divine nature.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid