Lot Essay
This unpublished picture is to be compared with the picture of the same subject of 1501, painted as a compartment for the retable of the high Altar in the church of the Colegiata in Gandia, in the province of Valencia, destroyed in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War (C.R. Post, A History of Spanish Painting, XI, 1938, fig.1).
The retable painted for Dona Maria Enriquez, widow of Giovanni Borgia, Duke of Gandia, is to be regarded as Paolo's principal achievement.
The artist is said to have arrived in Valencia from Italy in 1472, accompanying Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia's visit to that city. As pointed out by Post, op. cit, p.20, his style reflects Emilian influence, in particular of Francesco Francia and Giulio Cesare Grandi and it marks a departure from the earlier Spanish affection for gold and brilliant brocades.
The retable painted for Dona Maria Enriquez, widow of Giovanni Borgia, Duke of Gandia, is to be regarded as Paolo's principal achievement.
The artist is said to have arrived in Valencia from Italy in 1472, accompanying Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia's visit to that city. As pointed out by Post, op. cit, p.20, his style reflects Emilian influence, in particular of Francesco Francia and Giulio Cesare Grandi and it marks a departure from the earlier Spanish affection for gold and brilliant brocades.