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The Role Of Religion, Politics And Gender In The Visitation By The Master Of The Retablo Of The Kings

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Authors O'Bert, Andrea Elena

Publisher The University of Arizona.

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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/632685 THE ROLE OF RELIGION, POLITICS AND GENDER IN THE VISITATION BY THE

MASTER OF THE RETABLO OF THE CATHOLIC KINGS

By

ANDREA ELENA O’BERT

______

A Thesis Submitted to The Honors College

In Partial Fulfillment of the Bachelors Degree With Honors in

Art History

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

M A Y 2 0 1 9

Approved by:

______

Dr. Pia Cuneo Department of O’Bert !1

ABSTRACT

The Visitation and the other seven panels in the by the Master of the Catholic

Kings are still a mystery in many ways. However, analyzing them in their political, religious and gender contexts suggests that they serve as a powerful example of political propaganda produced in favor of the Catholic monarchs. The altarpiece allows for the veneration of the and in the Master’s altarpiece in particular, the key being depicted is the Mary. It is currently believed that the Master’s altarpiece was commissioned by Queen Isabella and King

Ferdinand. Their daughter, Juana of Castile, was perceived by the public as being mentally unwell and thus not fit for leadership. In an effort to improve her image before she married Philip of Hapsburg and assumed the throne, they had this altarpiece created with Mary made in the image of Juana. Throughout the scenes of Mary’s life that are depicted, she embodies many characteristics of the ideal woman: pious, maternal and obedient. In supporting that Juana embodies these traits, the King and Queen hope to counter the public’s concern about Juana’s mental illness and to provide an alternate image of her as the perfect queen to lead Spain. O’Bert !2

The Master of the Retablo of the Catholic King’s Visitation panel is housed in the

University of Arizona Art Museum and throughout my years at the university, it had always been a work that draws my attention. There is something about the complimentary colors of the two figures and the intricate detail of the architecture that has always caught my eye. When looking at artworks to research for my honors thesis, I wanted to study something local and have the opportunity to be physically in the presence of the of the painting that I would be spending so much time looking at. As I looked through the local museums for the painting that would be the perfect fit for my project, I kept coming back to this panel and wanted to learn more about it. As

I learned more about the work, I came to realize that it embodied all of my studies at the university perfectly. During my last summer of college, I studied Spanish history in the city of Alcalá de Henares, a city just two hours south of Valladolid, the original home of the altarpiece. As I grew to understand the artwork as an important element in the political, historical and religious context of the time and the region, I realized that there was no better work to research to bring to a close my undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona.

I. PROVENANCE

The Visitation and five other panels from the Master’s altarpiece became part of the

Samuel Kress collection in 1951 and were first exhibited in the United States at the National

Gallery in Washington D.C. as a part of the Art Treasures for America show that opened in 1961.

Alongside over one hundred other paintings and decorative works, the Master’s panels were exhibited for two months before they and the other artworks were gifted to twenty-one museums O’Bert !3 and collections across the country1. Aside from The Visitation, the other known panels in the

Master’s altarpiece are: Among the Doctors, The Marriage at , The Adoration of the

Magi, The , The Nativity, The Presentation in the Temple and The Circumcision.

Christ Among the Doctors and The Marriage at Cana can both currently be found at the National

Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, while The Adoration of the Magi is located at the Denver Art

Museum and The Annunciation and The Nativity are in the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

All six of these panels were gifts from the Kress Foundation. Outside of this collection, The

Presentation in the Temple is located at the Harvard Art Museum and The Circumcision is located in a private gallery in England.

An important question posed by the altarpiece regards the identity of its artist. While the artist who is thought to have created all of the panels in the altarpiece is known as the Master of the Retablo of the Catholic Kings, there is little known about him, including his name, nationality or biography. Some of the first research that explored the artist’s identity was undertaken by the historian Martin Conway in 1922, who asserted that the paintings were created by an artist in Brussels or Louvain around 1490 and were transported to Valladolid after their creation2. However, this assertion was challenged by Albert Van der Put shortly afterwards, who spent more time studying the connections between the figures in the artwork and the Spanish royalty and instead theorized that the artist was actually active in Valladolid practicing the

Hispano-flemish style and was commissioned by the royal family, King Ferdinand and Queen

1 Charles Seymour, Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings and in the Samuel Kress Collection (Phaidon, 1961) 2 Jonathan Brown and Richard G. Mann, Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries (Washington DC: of Art, 1990) 92. O’Bert !4

Isabella, to create this altarpiece. This new theory has been upheld by researchers since Van der

Put; however historians continue to speculate on exactly who the Master was3.

In 1966, Josep Gudiol sought to identify the Master of the Retablo of the Catholic Kings and made the assertion that he was actually Diego de la Cruz, a Hispano-flemish painter from the same era who is responsible for the work Man of Sorrows with the Virgin and Saint John the

Evangelist. This attribution was made based on a stylistic analysis of of two works, looking specifically at the elongated noses and hairlines as a means to connect the two artworks4.

However, Gudiol does not provide sufficient evidence in his research to link de la Cruz’s work with the Master’s altarpiece and art historians in recent years have challenged Gudiol’s approached and looked at the Master as an independent artist in Valladolid. Historians in the mid-twentieth century including Chandler Post and Charles D. Cuttler have used their research to place the Master of the Retablo of the Catholic Kings as an independent Spanish artist in the

Hispano-flemish style5.

The associations made by Post and Cuttler to the Castilian royalty, Ferdinand and

Isabella, draw attention to the visual similarities between the Master’s depictions of Mary and the soon-to-be queen of Spain, Juana of Castile (1479-1555). Subsequent scholars analyzing the panels have maintained that the altarpiece was likely commissioned by the king and queen to celebrate the marriage of their daughter, Juana to Philip the Handsome (1478-1506) and to present Juana in the image of Mary, a pure, maternal figure that would come to exemplify

3 Brown, Spanish Paintings, 92

4 Josep Gudiol, El Pintor Diego De La Cruz (Madrid: Goya, 1966), 208-217 5 Chandler Post, The Pacully Master (GBA, 1943), 328 O’Bert !5 everything that Juana should be in her role as queen6. This thesis argues that the panel by the

Master of the Catholic Kings, and the altarpiece as a whole, presents the life of Mary as a role model for Queen Juana of Castile. More specifically, by pairing Juana with Mary, a visual and political statement is made that, despite serious doubts about her mental health, Juana is the appropriate future queen of Spain.

6 Brown, Spanish Paintings, 94 O’Bert !6

II. VISUAL ANALYSIS

The Visitation is a rather large panel, measuring approximately 60 by 37 inches and as part of a larger altarpiece that is eight times that size, the audience is forced to view this work from afar, often from the pews across the . While the scenes depicted in the panels are intricately detailed, this faraway viewing still allows the audience to identify the primary figures in the panel as Mary and Elizabeth, though the audience can learn more and more about what the work depicts as they get closer to it. In the UAMA panel of the Visitation, the figures of Mary and Elizabeth are compositionally, the most prominent in the work, with Mary commanding the most attention with her upright position and garments’ colors. The composition of the painting emphasizes the verticality of the objects. The figures themselves occupy a prominent vertical space in the foreground and the same shapes are echoed in the buildings and the secondary figures, which extend similarly upwards through the space.

Behind the primary figures, there are secondary figures on both the left and right sides of the panel. Behind that, there is a large architectural structure that consumes the majority of the background. The landscape behind the building is visible on the upper left third of the panel, where the horizontal layers of the hills progress backwards towards the sky. Throughout the painting, the figures all point towards Mary, whose figure provides the obvious emphasis of the panel. Both Elizabeth and the figure to the left of Mary look towards her face, and Elizabeth’s arms and hand call attention to Mary’s abdomen, emphasizing her state of pregnancy. The pointed gazes of the other figures, the vertical and diagonal lines of the structure in the O’Bert !7 background and the linear draping of the clothing all lead towards Mary and her protruding abdomen, drawing the eye back to her presence repeatedly.

The artist creates the sense of pictorial space by overlapping figures and objects throughout the panel, with darkness and light showing which objects are located further back in the three-dimensional depicted space. Additionally, the structure in the background of the panel on the right utilizes a fairly accurate representation of linear perspective. In showing two sides of the building, the artist creates the illusion of depth by using orthogonals and a vanishing point so that as the building appears to recede into space and gets smaller. On the left side of the artwork, the artist also utilizes atmospheric perspective in the landscape. As the layered hills and the sky move back towards the horizon line, they get grayer and less detailed to emulate the thickening of the atmosphere through distance.

The panel as a whole forms a stark contrast between the figural, round forms and the rectilinear, architectural forms. In the foreground of the work, where the figures are, there is a repetition of round forms in the heads, hands, and bodies of the figures. These round forms are surrounded by more irregular, fluid forms created with the drapery that cloaks the figures. The natural folds of the clothes follow the same round, natural shapes of the figures and creates a stark distinction from the rest of the panel. Immediately behind the figures, the architectural, rectilinear forms begin. The linear forms of the building are almost entirely composed of distinctly vertical and horizontal lines and in contrast with the round forms of the foreground, it calls attention to the difference between the regular, square space in the background and the round and irregular form in the foreground. While the majority of the forms in the work are large and solid, there are a few more intricate forms that portray the intense detail of the work like the O’Bert !8 lines that create the halos of both Mary and Elizabeth and the delicate patterns of embroidery on the fabrics. Contour lines in the panel are also used to separate the forms and to create the overlapping of objects. The architecture includes many contour lines to separate the geometric spaces of the building and define the details of the balustrade, columns, roof and the crest on the left of the front wall. While the lines on the architecture are some of the most prominent and detailed, the same level of intricacy is applied to the lines defining the detail of the figures’ clothing, and faces. The artist uses thin contour lines, as opposed to bolder strokes and shadows, to depict the separation of forms throughout the artwork.

When viewing the artwork, the audience is immediately struck by the two complementary colors that envelope the two primary figures of the work. Mary’s emerald green gown contrasts Elizabeth’s red gown to keep the eye moving between the two figures. The same green can also be seen throughout the painting in other places like the shrubbery to the right of

Elizabeth, and the details on the roof of the building, leading back into the landscape in the upper left corner. The red of Elizabeth’s gown is also repeated throughout the work, in the clothing of the secondary figure, the entrance to the structure and the upper segments of the building, which are a lighter pink. While the gowns of the two women are painted in bold, striking colors, the rest of the panel is adorned with much more muted tones. The vibrant green and red stand out so much because they are surrounded will duller shades of brown, tan, pink, olive and blue. Aside from the two gowns, the other striking color that appears throughout the panel is gold. Gold tones make up the halos of Mary and Elizabeth, the detailing on their gowns, and the fields that the figures walk upon. O’Bert !9

By looking at the figures and the shadows on their faces and bodies, it appears that the lighting in the artwork is based on a source of light above the scene, likely the sun. The artist represents this light by creating shadows on the bottom of the forms such as under Mary’s chin and the space between the figures under Elizabeth’s stretched arms. While the lighting on the figures, particularly on their skin, looks almost entirely consistent from left to right, the building in the rear shows a strong light source on the right side, which is depicted in much lighter tones than the wall that is facing the viewer. In the architecture, shadows are created both below objects as well as on the left side of objects. A good example of this can be seen in the crow- stepped gable of the roof, which extends upwards over the roof’s surface, creating a dark shadow on its left.

The differentiation of tones is not very evident in many places in the panel, such as the skin of the figures of the building faces. On many of these solid figures, the tone is rather flat, with a slight tendency to shade, and with forms separated by darker contour lines rather than a transitioning tone. However, one of the most prominent showcases of tone and shadow is present in the gowns of Mary and Elizabeth. Both of these forms in the artwork show an extensive attention to the way light hits the fabric and how fabric folds in a three-dimensional space.

Repeated patterns of lighter and darker tones of the same color create the impression of the fabric moving towards and away from the viewer, and the light source, creating folds.

The painting includes the depiction of both man-made and organic textures throughout the work which, like the forms, create a contrast between the two realms of creation. The texture of the shrubbery and the gowns of the women are very smooth and irregular, created by strokes of paint in varying directions, without a strict sense of uniformity. On the other hand, the man- O’Bert !10 made textures in the architecture are distinct and regular, and create repetitive patterns of shapes and lines, rather than the irregular patterns of nature. Regular, intricate patterns can also be seen in the detailing along the edges of Mary’s gown, Elizabeth’s sleeves and the majority of the fabric on the secondary figure’s gown.

The intricate patterns, color scheme and representation of the figures are clear indicators that this painting was created in the Northern European style of . Wood panel preparation is an important and painstaking part of the painting process and in artist workshops like the one led by the Master of the Retablo of the Catholic Kings, this job was usually done by apprentices and assistants. The preparation process starts with the apprentice applying gesso to the artwork. Gesso is a combination of animal glue and chalk which smooths the surface and creates a material that the allows the paint to glide more easily onto the panel and last for much longer. After the gesso is applied in many layers, the panel is sanded until it is perfectly smooth and ready to be painted7.

Once the panel is prepped with gesso, the artist can begin to draw the outline of the forms using charcoal or ink. In panels such as this, underdrawing often were changed and redone multiple times as the artist and the patron decided on the exact layout of the composition. As this point, the artist begins to apply the pigment itself to the panel. While the assistant mixes different pigments with a linseed oil base to create the different colored paints, the artist can begin to block in the colors of the artwork, often starting with larger spaces and then working in the details as the work progressed8. In the workshop setting, the master was often responsible for the

7 Pia Cuneo, “Artist’s Training and Production,” (University of Arizona, Tucson: 17 Jan 2019) 8 Ainhoa Rodríguez-Lopez, “Materials and Techniques of a Spanish Renaissance Panel Painting” Studies in Conservation vol. 52, no. 2 (2007), 88 O’Bert !11 finest details of the artwork, but they did not always have a hand in the entire process of painting the panels. When looking at The Visitation in the context of the larger altarpiece, one can see stylistic differences between the depiction of figures across the panels, especially in the faces of the primary subjects. These slight inconsistencies in the representation of shadow and light give the impression that this altarpiece was likely made in a larger workshop, where the Master of the

Retablo had a hand in many of the panels, but he was not responsible for the entire creation of the altarpiece.

Though they were produced in Spain, The Visitation and the other panels in the altarpiece display many stylistic elements of Northern European art. This melding of styles is referred to as

Hispano-flemish, which emerged as a cultural and artistic movement in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Hispano-flemish style developed in Spain as the capital of Castile,

Burgos, was quickly becoming one of the largest land-locked commerce cities of the time. As the city and its commerce continued to grow, merchants would travel from all across Europe to sell their goods on the Castilian market. Some of the biggest ports that regularly traded with Burgos were Flanders and Brabant, and thus, northern art and goods were frequently sold in Castile9. As the relationship between Burgos and the North strengthened, trade and immigration began to flourish. The growing trade between the regions was not limited to commercial goods, but quickly enveloped the world of art and it was not long before Flemish paintings were frequently found in the art markets of Castile. As Flemish paintings grew in popularity, many Spanish painters were influenced by their works and the new Hispano-flemish style was born and practiced by both Netherlandish and Spanish artists.

9 Ronda Kasl, “The Making of the Hispano-Flemish Style: Art, Commerce, and Politics in 15th Century Castile” PhD diss., Institute of Fine Art, New York University: 2012, 9 O’Bert !12

The Hispano-flemish style can mostly be seen in the artwork associated with the Church.

Architecture, , books and panels found in Burgos and other parts of Castile are some of the media usually associated with the Hispano-flemish style. Hispano-flemish art embodies many of the characteristics of Northern art, including the tilted plane of view and skewed perspective10. Most of the figures and their proportions have a distinctly northern look, with large rounded faces and bodies covered in pyramids of drapery. As a fusion of the northern and

Castilian styles, Hispano-flemish works also take on many characteristics from the mudéjar style, which dominated Castile and for the first half of the fifteen century and originated from the moorish influence on the region from the south. Mudéjar is stylistically most often seen in Spanish architecture with heavily ornamented walls and panels. These dense patterns and shapes can often be found in Hispano-flemish painting scenes as a reference to the landscape of Spain, to differentiate the work from Flemish and Dutch paintings. As an example, in the panel by the Master, it is clear that the structure in the background of the work is in the mudéjar style, with its geometric detailing along the roof and walls. The implementation of múdejar elements in paintings is one of the most common signals used to differentiation

Hispano-flemish paintings from Northern European paintings.

III. LITURGICAL FUNCTION

The Master’s altarpiece, much like other convent and church altarpieces in fifteenth century Europe, played a very important role in the Church liturgy. Altarpiece panels and artworks stem from a longstanding tradition of imagery that started in the early

10 José María Azcárate Ristori, “Hispano-Flemish Style” Oxford Art Online , 2003 O’Bert !13

Constantinian church. However, the altarpiece as it was seen in the fifteen century did not find its origins until the thirteenth century in Tuscany. In many ways, altarpieces serve as illustrative devices related to the given by the priest, allowing the audience to imagine more vividly the scenes and biblical texts that the priest is describing. Church artwork, including altarpieces, also give visual context where there may have been a language barrier inhibiting the audience from fully comprehending the traditionally Latin . The illustrative qualities of the altarpiece serve the very important function of the visualization of biblical scenes, in order to bring more life to them for the audience. Bringing the audience into the biblical scenes channels the laity’s emotions to respond to the messages of the sermon and the Bible11. For example, by showing Mary’s hope and acceptance in The Annunciation, the audience can feel that same hope and acceptance of . Similarly, in The Nativity, Mary’s immense love for her child is shown and the audience is encouraged to feel that same love. The visualization of the figures and their emotions connect the viewers with the biblical figures and strengthens their faith in the church and . By placing Mary and the other biblical figures in contemporary Renaissance scenes, the artist has created a world that the viewers can actually see, understand and feel a part of, rather than having to rely on solely the words of the priest.

In the Master’s altarpiece, Mary has been especially and clearly humanized for the audience and made into a more relatable figure. By placing Mary in a scene that could have directly been taken from a location in fifteenth-century Castile and in contemporary clothing, those listening to the sermon, particularly the female audience, could relate to Mary and her struggles and see themselves in her. Mary’s sacrifice, maternity and femininity are central

11 James H. Marrow, “Symbol and Meaning in Northern European Art of the Late and Early Renaissance” Simiolus: Quarterly for the History of Art vol. 16, no. 2/3, 160 O’Bert !14 characteristics of her depiction in the panel and in turn, render her as a role model for the audience, specifically the female audience, who should strive to be like Mary in their sacrifice, maternity and femininity12.

Specifically in Renaissance Europe, altarpieces serve two very particular functions in the liturgy: “a site for the celebration of the and for the veneration of the saints”13. During the celebration of the Eucharist, the altarpiece serves the purpose of providing visual evidence that supports the and bread becoming the blood and . As the priest prays and recites the verses that allow the Eucharist to be celebrated, he and the church audience are facing the altarpiece, viewing images of Christ and other biblical figures and allowing them to enter the biblical moments and find themselves connected with Christ. Because of this use, many altarpieces depict important biblical scenes that relate to Jesus’ sacrifice and death as memorialization in the Eucharist including the Crucifixion, the and the

Lamentation14. However, other scenes, like those depicted in the Master’s altarpiece, can still serve the same purpose, though they use the additional, different narratives for other didactic purposes. Many altarpieces depict specific biblical scenes related to the specific function of the church in which they are housed and to the audience that will view them. As an example, an altarpiece in an all female convent would have a very different audience than in the royal chapel or in a hospital. In all of these locations, specific biblical stories might have more appeal to that

12 Johann Roten, “All About Mary”, University of Dayton, Ohio. 6 March 2019. https://udayton.edu/imri/ mary/w/women-role-models.php

13 Beth Williamson, “Altarpieces, Liturgy, and Devotion” Speculum vol. 79, no. 2, 372 14 Daniel DeGreve, “Retro Tablum: The Origins and Role of the Altarpiece in the Liturgy” Institute for Architecture, 2010 O’Bert !15 audience and the altarpiece can thus serve as a more effective visual aid to whatever message the

Church wants to communicate to that audience.

The second purpose for the altarpiece in the liturgy is the veneration of the saints. Many altarpieces, in addition to depicting Christ, include figures of saints and scenes from their lives.

Most churches have altarpieces and celebrating the saint or saints to whom they are dedicated, depending on the purpose and the context of the church. Oftentimes, the saints also relate to the specific audience of the church and the message that the rest of the altarpiece is conveying15. For the Master’s altarpiece, the most important saint who is shown throughout the majority of the panels is Mary. While it has been determined that the altarpiece came from the city of Valladolid, the specific church or convent where the work was housed is not currently known. Although the exact church for which this altarpiece was made remains unknown, the panel is very central to the life of Mary and thus it is likely that it was a church or convent dedicated to Mary. The altarpiece illustrates Mary’s life with Christ, emphasizing her fertility, maternity and loving role as the mother of Jesus. In depicting her in this way, the church audience is encourage to venerate and celebrate her, in addition to looking to her as a female role model.

IV. HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT

To a Renaissance audience, Mary is the , the virgin, the , the

Mother of Jesus and the church’s idea of an ideal woman. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that she serves as a role model to the Spanish audience. In the Master’s altarpiece, Mary is the only

15 DeGreve, “Retro Tablum” O’Bert !16 figure who can be seen in each of the eight panels and her life is followed through the narrative of the altarpiece. Looking at the altarpiece, Spanish women would see Mary as the ideal woman whom they should strive to be like. Though she is human, Mary is without according to the . While the majority of the role models described in the biblical texts are sinful and relatable in their faults, Mary is different and exemplified what humanity would be like without the sin of Adam and Eve and like what all of humanity should strive to be. In addition to being an essentially ‘perfect’ human, Mary is also the mother of Jesus, and served as his caretaker and guide throughout his life16. This belief that Mary was the example of perfect humanity can be seen in the numerous Renaissance churches dedicated to her as well as altarpieces like that of the Master.

In 1496, at the creation of the painting, the Castilian crown was beginning to undergo a change in leadership as Juana (1479-1555), the daughter of Queen Isabella of Castile

(1451-1504) and King Ferdinand the Catholic (1452-1516), was preparing to marry Philip the

Handsome (1478-1506) of the Habsburg family. At the turn of the fifteenth century, the royal family was living in the city of Valladolid, where the Master’s altarpiece originated. The king and especially the queen were busy preparing their empire to welcome Juana to the throne after her two older siblings died suddenly, leaving the empire with a female heiress. With Juana’s marriage to Philip, the Habsburgs would officially rule Spain, leading to one of the largest empires since the Holy of the twelfth century17.

16 Dave Armstrong, “The Blessed Virgin Mary Is Our Role Model” National Catholic Register, 20 April 2017. http://www.ncregister.com/blog/darmstrong/the-blessed-virgin-mary-is-our-role-model 17 Joan-Lluís Palos, “Queen Isabella of Castile’s Rise to Power in Spain” National Geographic Society, 28 March 2019. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2019/03-04/queen- isabellas-rise-to-spanish-throne/ O’Bert !17

Before her entry into the political world as the heiress to the Spanish empire, Juana was considered by the public and the court to be unfavorable for rule. Many assumed that she suffered from mental instability because of her unruly behavior and rebellion against the teachings of the Church. For many years of her life, especially after the passing of her mother,

Juana hid in solitude, neglecting her political duties. While she held the dual role of representing both the Trastámara family into which she was born and the Hapsburg dynasty that she married into, she also found herself as the first female queen to be the official ruler of Spain. As it turns out, due to her behavior and actions, she never ruled a single day18.

There are a number of theories revolving around Juana as the mad queen of Spain and many scholars, including historian María S. Gomez, have theorized that her supposed mental illness was all part of a political scheme to keep her from power. According to this theory,

Juana’s acts of madness including her seclusion from society and the political sector, her reckless behavior against the church, and her inability to be a proper queen, were all the effects of her husband Philip and his allies, who controlled Juana as a means to maintain control of Spain19.

While this theory is useful for explaining Juana’s erratic and improper behavior, it does not explain her behavior after 1506, once her husband, Phillip had passed away. One of Juana’s most infamous moments as the Mad Queen occurred shortly after her husband’s death, when she became frighteningly attached to Phillip’s remains and travelled with them for days, frequently opening the casket to embrace and kiss the decaying body. While this is only one of the most notable examples of Juana’s unusual and obsessive behavior, it is one of many occasions that

18 Claire Ridgway. “The Madness of Juana of Castile” The Tudor Society. 2 March 2017. https:// www.tudorsociety.com/madness-juana-castile/ 19 María Gómez, et al. Juana of Castile: History and Myth of the Mad Queen (University Press, 2008) 34-35. O’Bert !18 made her seem unfit to rule the empire, allowing the succession to pass her over, never giving her a single day of rulership over her own nation. Juana’s madness, whether part of the

Hapsburgs’ political scheme or an effect of real mental illness, became a central part of her reputation and legacy among the Spanish people, starting from a very young age.

The marriage of Juana of Castile (of the Trastámara family) and Philip of Austria (of the

Hapsburg family) marked one of the most powerful unions of political forces in Renaissance

Europe, effectively combining rulership over , parts of Italy, the Netherlands,

Spain and the new imperial landholding of the Spanish empire in the New World. Because of the gravity of this union, the royal families on both sides of this marriage focused their efforts on encouraging the people of their kingdom to support of their union and their new king and queen.

20. While the marriage itself was one of the most important political moments of the era, what was more important than the marriage was the son that the two would bear, who would become the king of an empire that spanned the globe.

To celebrate that marriage and send a message to the people of Spain, it is assumes that

Queen Isabella commission the Master’s altarpiece for a church in Valladolid. Painted in 1496 in

Valladolid, the political center of Spain, The Visitation and the rest of the Master’s altarpiece not only depicts a biblical scene for the church audience, but sends a political message to the people of Spain about Juana’s coming rulership. Queen Isabella may have asked that the figure of Mary in the work be made to look like her daughter, Juana, based on the visual similarities that have been drawn between the two figures21. Queen Isabella wanted her daughter to embody Mary as a

20 Ridgway, “The Madness of Juana of Castile” 21 Brown “Spanish Paintings” 93 O’Bert !19 woman, as a mother and as a queen and more importantly, she wanted the public to associate

Juana with Mary.

Depicting Mary as an image of the Queen Juana had a very particular effect on the relationship between Juana and Mary in the eyes of the Spanish public. In addition to allowing the people of Spain to see Juana in the same light that they saw Mary, the altarpiece allowed

Juana to look up to Mary and strive to be like her in her role as the queen of Spain. Mary is pure and maternal and would bear the , just as Juana would bear a son who would rule over one of the largest empires in history. Like Mary, it was Juana’s duty to glorify her son and sacrifice her own happiness to allow him the honor that he has earned. In the Master’s altarpiece, the eight panels are each used to showcase the traits of Mary that the female audience, particularly Juana, should seek to cultivate in their own lives.

V. THE ALTARPIECE AND JUANA

Because the altarpiece is currently separated and the documentation of the altarpiece as a whole is scarce, it is not clear as to how exactly the eight panels were originally laid out. For the sake of this thesis, I have arranged panels based on the chronological story of Mary’s life from left to right, starting with the Annunciation and ending with the Marriage at Cana. The first panel of the altarpiece depicts the Annunciation, the moment that the Gabriel comes to Mary and tells her that she will bear the son of God It is also the moment when Mary is impregnated with

Jesus which can be seen in the painting through the beam of light and the infant figure that connects Mary to the heavens and God above. Despite her state of shock and confusion, Mary trusts the angel and the will of God and is obedient in serving him in whatever way he needs. O’Bert !20

According to the text, Mary responds to Gabriel’s announcement, saying, “‘ the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled’” (Luke 1:38). In the Annunciation,

Mary is completely subservient to God’s will, much like the ideal Catholic woman. A

Renaissance woman is not only a willing servant to God, but also a servant to her husband. As a woman entered her adult life and marriage, she was expected to be a loyal and willing wife to her husband’s desires and needs, just in the way that Mary was a willing servant to the will of God22.

Therefore, in the Annunciation scene, Mary exemplifies the ideal Spanish woman, not only in her piety, but in her role as a loyal, submissive woman. This was the role of women everywhere in Renaissance Europe, even for those in the position of Queen, like Juana.

The second panel, The Visitation, is described in the of Luke as the moment when

Mary, pregnant with Jesus, travels to a Hebron, south of , to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was also pregnant, with . According to the King James , when Mary and Elizabeth came to meet, the baby John “leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost” (Luke 1:44). The Visitation scene in art is most often depicted as the moment when these two women meet, and Elizabeth is often shown touching Mary’s abdomen to feel the connection to the Lord within her, much like she is in the panel by the Master. In this panel, there is an emphasis on maternity and pregnancy, as the extended abdomen of Mary is mirrored by

Elizabeth as well as by the secondary figure on Mary’s left. However, though Elizabeth is three months further along in her pregnancy, Mary’s abdomen is much larger and more rounded, illustrating the importance of Mary’s pregnancy and the closeness between Mary and God 23.

22 Merry E. Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, Cambridge University Press, 74 23 Laura Freeman, “A History of Bump Iconography”, The Spectator 31 May 2017 O’Bert !21

Similarly, in the third panel, The Nativity, Mary is shown looking over the new baby Jesus with adoring, motherly eyes. To the Spanish people and to Juana, Mary displays and idealizes one of the most important tasks of Renaissance women: motherhood. Bearing children, and specifically sons, was the most important role for Spanish woman in the 15th century, especially for Juana, whose son would rule over an empire.

The Adoration in the Magi, described in Matthew 2:1-12, is depicted in the fourth panel of the Master’s altarpiece. This scene describes the three Magi coming to meet Jesus and bearing gifts for him. Though the three kings have come to see Jesus and he is the center of their attention, Mary plays an important role in this scene as the presenter of Jesus. Mary proudly shows off her son, the savior of mankind, to the world and is thereby playing a priestly role in making him present to the world. As a mother, it is Mary’s duty to give the glory to her child and sacrifice everything for him and this role is even more evident given that her child is the savior of mankind. However, this same position as the sacrificial caregiver and presenter to the world goes for all mothers in Renaissance Europe24. Juana herself exemplifies the role of the sacrificial mother in that her son will be the ruler of a large empire. By depicting The Adoration of the

Magi, the artist also creates a connection between Juana’s son, King Carlos V (1500-1558), who would rule over the Holy Roman Empire for forty years25.

The next two panels of the altarpiece are The Circumcision and The Presentation at the the Temple. These two biblical scenes are very closely linked and are described in of

Luke 2:21-39. In these scenes, Mary oversees the circumcision of the infant Jesus and presents

24 Helen Hill. Architecture and the Politics of Gender in Early Modern Europe, Routledge: 2017, 26. 25 Ridgway, “The Madness of Juana of Castile” O’Bert !22 him at the temple among the church elders. Both of these images depict important religious rituals in which a good Jewish mother would partake, and thus show Mary’s role in bringing up her child in the church and being obedient to the church’s traditions and rituals. Similar to Mary, it will soon be Juana’s duty to raise her son in the church and ensure that he fulfills the ritual obligations that will be required of him as he matures, including and .

These ritualistic traditions are important to Juana as well because it signifies her devotion to the church and her role as a pious, obedient queen, an image that differed greatly from the narrative of mental illness that was perceived by the Spanish public26. However, in depicted Juana as pious and obedient, the royal family hoped to shift their perspective and prove that she was indeed the appropriate choice for the future queen of Spain.

The second to last panel in the Master’s altarpiece is Christ Among the Doctors. This scene, also from the , describes Jesus, at twelve years old, as being accidentally left at a temple in Jerusalem and when Mary and Joseph returned to find him, he was conversing maturely with the elders of the temple and teachers. When Mary asks Jesus why he did not come with them as they had asked, he says, “‘Why were you searching for me…Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’” (Luke 2:49) and upon saying this, Mary immediately submits to his wisdom and recognizes his authority. In addition to conveying Mary’s compliance with Jesus’ wisdom and power, the scene depicts Mary as a protective and caring mother, one who never stopped searching for her son when he was missing. Both the protective, maternal figure and the submission to her son’s authority and roles that Juana will also have to fill in her role as queen.

Much like Mary, Juana will need to be protective and caring for the safety of her child but in the

26 Gómez, Juana of Castile, 35 O’Bert !23 end, she will need to recognize his authority and give me the glory and independence of leadership.

Lastly, the final panel in the altarpiece depicts the scene, The Marriage at Cana. This scene in the is one of the more important Biblical stories because it depicts the first that Jesus performs: turning water into wine. However, while it is Jesus who performs the miracle, it is Mary who encourages him to do so. Mary wishes for happiness and abundance for the wedding guests and it is Jesus who provides them with that. In a similar fashion, it will be Juana’s duty as the queen to provide for her people and look after them in their time of need. The Marriage at Cana symbolizes Juana’s role as a loving, providing queen who will ensure the well-being of her people. As the final panel in the altarpiece, this leaves the audience, the people of Spain, feeling secure in Juana’s role as the new Queen of Spain.

VI. CONCLUSION

The Visitation and the other seven panels in the altarpiece by the Master of the Catholic

Kings are still a mystery in many ways. However, analyzing them in their political, religious and gender contexts suggests that they serve as a powerful example of political propaganda produced in favor of the Catholic monarchs, specifically Queen Isabella. Visually, the altarpiece serves as a perfect example of the Hispano-flemish style, specifically in the depictions of the faces of the figures, as well as the múdejar details in the architecture. As an altarpiece, this artwork serves a very important function in the liturgy. The altarpiece allows the audience to visualize the scenes described by the priest, and can help the viewers to feel more connected with the biblical figures and the stories of the sermon. Additionally, the altarpiece allows for the veneration of the saints O’Bert !24 and in the Master’s altarpiece in particular, the key saint being depicted is the Virgin Mary.

Throughout the panels, Mary is shown at various important moments of her life. Viewers are visually encouraged to connect to her and to visualize the different events in her life.

In addition to playing an important religious role, the altarpiece’s function as a work of political propaganda is equally important. It is currently believed that the Master’s altarpiece was commissioned by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand for a church in the city of Valladolid. Their daughter, Juana of Castile, was perceived by the public as being mentally unwell and thus not fit for leadership. In an effort to improve her image before she married Philip of Hapsburg and assumed the throne, they had this altarpiece created with Mary made in the image of Juana.

Throughout the scenes of Mary’s life that are depicted, she embodies many characteristics of the ideal woman: pious, maternal and obedient. In supporting that Juana embodies these traits, the

King and Queen hope to counter the public’s concern about Juana’s mental illness and to provide an alternate image of her as the perfect queen to lead Spain. O’Bert !25

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