The great canvas of ‘La Asunción’ of Greco He returns to the Prado Museum more than a century later, thanks to an agreement reached with the Art Institute of Chicagoowner of the work since 1906. It will do so from next February 18 in the framework of the exhibition ‘El Greco. Santo Domingo El Old‘That he will show works that the painter made for the church of the monastery of Santo Domingo El Antiguo de Toledo, according to Inform the Pinacoteca.
In mid -1577, newcomer to Spain, El Greco obtained the two most important commissions of his career to date: ‘El Pug of the oldest cenobios in the city.
To comply with this last commission, the Greco conducted an altarpiece for the main altar whose canvases are scattered today, and also took care of the two side altars. ‘The Assumption ‘is the central work of the altarpiecewhere Maria’s ascension is represented to the heavens assisted by a group of angels. The Virgin stands on the growing of the moon, rising on the open tomb around which the apostles are grouped, covered with stillness and with mesurated gestures.
«It was this Surely the first fabric made by El Greco for the monastic set and probably also on Spanish soil. Perhaps that is why it is the only one of its production including the date: 1577the year he arrived in Spain, ”says El Prado.
This painting of the Convent of Santo Domingo the ancient aroused the interest of the infant Sebastián Gabriel, a biznieto of Carlos III, who commissioned Valeriano Salvatierra the acquisition of the work, which was carried out by 14,000 reais on August 13, 1830. The purchase was made with great discretion, given the high value of the piece. To replace it in the altarpiece, a copy was commissioned to Luis Ferrant and Carlos Luis de Ribera, which cost 8,000 reais.
Six years later, the infant’s collection was confiscated by the Government and subsequently deposited in the newly created Trinity Museum. Sebastián Gabriel de Borbón recovered his assets in 1859 and took his collection to his exile in Pau, France. At his death in 1875, his art collection, including ‘La Asunción’ del Greco, was in the hands of his widow, the Infanta María Cristina de Borbón.
After his death in 1902,The heirs lent the painting to the Prado Museum between 1902 and 1904, date on which the work was acquired by the Parisian march Paul Durand-Ruelwith the financing of Ho Havemeyer, thanks to the intermediation of the American painter Mary Cassatt.
Finally, in 1906, it was sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, where it is currently.
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