Though wills and fates run contrary, sometimes when they merge their paths to end at a similar destination, it looks almost like an impossible wish granted. To the art world, this wish was vouchsafed by the discovery of the three altarpieces by a recognized Flemish artist, Isaac Hermes Vermey, which once had an uncertainty of its discovery as it could have been destroyed.
Palamos Historian Gabriel Martin Roig saw one of the three tables in an online store which was sold as an anonymous work, but somewhere he was aware of the artwork and suspected it to be of Hermes because of its resemblance to the main altarpiece of the Church of Santa Maria del Mar de Palamos, signed by the same author. Martin then alerted the art historian Francesc Miralpeix, from the University of Girona and a member of the Qualification Board for Valuation and Export of Assets of the Cultural Heritage of Catalonia, who further instigated the discovery and gave the possibility of having two more fragments. Then, entered a specialist in 16th-century painting, Joan Bosch, and Joan Yeguas, the curator of Renaissance and Baroque at the MNAC, into the operation to finally confirm the authorship of the artworks.
The Department of Culture then contacted the owners of the three compartments, a Biscay firm, who agreed to withdraw them from auction to hand over at the price of 27,000 Euros. The rapid action of the Catalan administration and the impeccable work of the historians made it possible to incorporate these artworks into the country’s public collections.
Depicting the three moments from the Life of Christ: Birth, Resurrection, and Ascension, the panels have a long history behind them. Sofia Mata, an art historian, and a former director of the Diocesan Museum of Tarragona had previously defended that the main altarpiece of the chapel of the Palau Reial Menor in Barcelona was dismantled and not destroyed. Out of the ten pieces, only a semicircular tympanum having a representation of God the Father has been located, which is now kept at the Borja Center in Sant Cugat del Vallès.
The altarpiece might have been created when there was generous splendor for the Palau Reial Menor. The building was originally a residence of the Templars from the middle of the 12th century to the beginning of the 14th century; in the middle of the 14th century it was acquired by King Peter the Ceremonious, and from the 15th century, it was passed into the hands of Galceran de Requesens, Governor General of Catalonia and Count of Palamós, and his family. At this time, the Grandson of the Requesens, Lluis de Requesens under Philip II, met the painter Isaac Hermes in Italy, whom he took to Barcelona with him. Requesens gave many commissions to him to decorate the chapel of his mansion. However, since the 17th century, The Grand Royal Palace (Palau Reial Menor) was in decline and demolished in 1859. Though the chapel remained standing at this time, it was restored but lost its original Renaissance soul.
These altarpieces remained at their original location until 1932, but nobody knows what happened to them after it. Francesc Miralpeix found unpublished documentation that suggested that it was confiscated during the Civil War to save it from the revolutionaries’ attacks. In 1939, Joan Guim presented a formal claim to the Francoist service that took control of the works to return the altarpieces, but there are a lot of unknown facts about the further happenings. Though a turbulent history, the altarpieces are back at display for the generations to see the late-mannerist art of the significant artist, Hermes.
These altarpieces are big achievements for the art world as most of the works of Hermes are in private hands. In addition, this complies that there is a scope for getting other works of Hermes from the Palau Reial Menor in the future.
Resource.
- Featured Image: La taula del Naixement de Crist; ARXIU.
- El Punt Avui+.
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