Luis de Morales
The Man of Sorrows
History on Luis de Morales
Luis de Morales was a Spanish artist during the time of the Spanish Renaissance. He was born in Badajoz, Spain in 1509 and died in the same place on May 9, 1586. He painted mostly religious painting of Christ and The Virgin with oil paints on oak wood. There is little to no evidence of Luis de Morales's education but people believe he might have studied at Évora, Portugal or trained as a painter in Seville, a religious and artistic center in Spain. A few of his works of art are "The Virgin and Child", "The Man of Sorrows", and "Pieta" which means piety in English. Because he only painted religious figures most of his patrons belonged to the Church. Most of his work was done in Badajoz, Spain but he also traveled to paint for people like King Phillip II of Spain. He is most well known for his twenty paintings on the life on Christ he did for the Church of Arroyo de Puerco. His art shows that he was influenced by Flemish art and Leonardo da Vinci's work. Luis de Morales was nicknamed 'el Divino', which means the divine in English, because he only painted religious subjects. It shows ideas of Humanism, Secularism, and Idealism. He worked for the bishops in the dioceses of Badajoz, and was at the height of his artistic career during 1550-1570. He owned a workshop where his two sons eventually joined him and were employed there.
The Man of Sorrows
The painting to the left is called The Man of Sorrows and was painted by Luis de Morales. It shows Jesus Christ sitting on a stage set and focusing on the tools of his torture. I like this painting because it sums up Jesus's life and his pain without being gruesome. This piece was created around 1560 during the high point in Luis de Morales's artistic career. This painting is currently located in the National Museum of Wales. Luis de Morales painted this with oil paints on a wooden canvas, which many other artists did during the Spanish Renaissance. The Man of Sorrows shows Secularism because it is focuses on Christ, a strong religious figure who has lots of patrons. The backgrounds of Luis de Morales's painting are always plain which helps the viewer focus on subject of the painting. Humanism is also shown in this painting because Christ is expressing that he is concerned about the items on the floor around him and he is expressing emotion with the look on his face. The Man of Sorrows shows Idealism as well because Christ is painted so flawlessly that no one could possibly look like him in real life.
Citations
Man of Sarrows. Luis de Morales. 1560. In ARTstor [database]. [cited 3 December 2015]. Avaliable from ARTstor, Inc., New York, New York
"Luis de Morales". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 03 Dec. 2015
"Spain Is Culture." Luis De Morales, 'el Divino'. Painting. Biography and Works at . N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.