The art market moves, it moves. Three sculptures belonging to the sacred heritage linked to artists and workshops from Burgos from the 15th and 16th centuries that turned the city of Arlanzón into a reference center are up for auction at the La Suite gallery in Barcelona. On Tuesday you will be able to bid for a Saint Bartholomew, a gilded and polychrome wood carving from the circle of Felipe Bigarny, from the first third of the 16th century; a second carved, gilded and polychrome wood sculpture from the end of the 15th century, by Gil de Siloé, showing María Magdalena, who, according to the auction house, bears a great resemblance to the figures on the Santa Ana altarpiece of the Chapel of the Constables of the Cathedral; and a delicate sculptural group formed by Santa Ana, the Virgin and the Child made of alabaster with pink veins and traces of gilding, dated in the first third of the 16th century and attributed to a Burgos workshop linked to Diego de Siloé and Bigarny.
The most valuable piece, considering the estimated starting price, between 45,000 and 60,000 euros, is that of Gil de Siloé. The 123-centimeter image, possibly of Mary Magdalene, although it is not taken for granted, highlights this resemblance to the sculpture of Santa Ana Triple in the Chapel of the Constables of the Seo capital. «The similarities with the model used for the Virgin Girl are clearly seen in the features of the eyes, the long and thin nose, and the mouth, even in the gesture of the mouth and the drawing of the lips. Regarding the treatment of the hair, the headdress as a diadem, rich in goldsmithing, and the clothes, our image is comparable to the Santa Catalina found in the aforementioned altarpiece of Santa Ana dated around 1500 », they detail from La Suite and detect a third comparative example in the image of Santa Bárbara from the altarpiece of the Cartuja de Miraflores.
The low estimate price, between 18,000 and 22,500 euros, in the family sculptural set made in alabaster, 59 centimeters. The gothic art specialist Antoni José i Pitarch, who carried out the study for the auction house, suggests that this work could be part of a particular chapel of the Burgos World Heritage temple. The professor at the University of Barcelona also refers to its authorship and warns that, “although the place of origin of this work cannot be specified with documentation, its technical and execution characteristics refer to the Castilian sculptural typologies of the first third of the 16th century , specifically to those developed in the Cathedral of Burgos and its surroundings, such as the Cartuja, being the first one where one of the largest wood and alabaster sculpture workshops in Castile is located, whose greatest exponent was Gil de Siloé ».
More affordable, although not for any pocket, is the third sculpture in the bid. With an estimated starting price of between 4,000 and 5,000 euros, the San Bartolomé goes up for auction. Professor Jesús María Parrado del Olmo, consulted by La Suite, concludes that it is difficult to attribute this carving to a specific master and determines, after an exhaustive analysis of its characteristics, that it is a «Burgos work from the first third of the 16th century, from a unknown teacher of the circle of Felipe Bigarny ».
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