Pedro Berruguete
By: Cole Wheeler
Pedro's Early Life
Pedro was born in the year 1440 in Paredes de Nava, Spain. In the early beginnings of his life he had an interest in art. He started taking more interest in art when he started learning from a Flemish artist in his home town of Paredes. He also worked on painting altars and objects in churches. This would spark the talent of the great painter Pedro would become. He would stay here until he decided to leave in 1480 to begin a serious career in art. He lived a simple life, art was all he needed.
Portrait of Pedro
His Time in Italy
His Start
Pedro did start a family before he left for Italy in 1476. He had a wife and six kids who one, named Alonso, would later strike talent in the art of sculpting. On his arrival to Italy, he studied many artists throughout his period here. In doing this he got a mix of many different techniques that he used to create his works later on.
The Time Has Come
His Work
After Pedro had studied many Renaissance artists for a few years, it was time he started creating his own works. When he started painting for his patron the Duke of Urbino, he was in his prime. Under the Duke's roof Pedro painted many great works of art. The Duke, Federico III, comissioned lots of self portraits that Pedro would paint, but Pedro also worked on his own. The Duke and Pedro formed a bond between each other, and Pedro worked for the Duke until he died.
Portrait of the Duke of Urbino (Pedro's Patron)
Back to Spain
His Return
Sadly, the Duke died in 1482, and Pedro was saddened. When his beloved patron died Pedro decided to return to Spain to his home town of Paredes. Although he no longer had a patron, he still wanted to paint. So instead of waiting for one, he decided to paint for the local churches. He created still elegant and beautiful pieces for the churches. Later still He moved to Toledo to work on the magnificent Toledo Cathedral that was being built. It was a Gothic style cathedral.
The Toledo Cathedral
Pedro's Death
Pedro Berruguete sadly died on February 6, 1503. He would not live to see his son become a part of the arts as a great sculptor.
Art Piece- Apparition of the Virgin
Description
This piece of artwork was created between 1480-1500. The name is the Apparition of the Virgin. The original artwork is sitting in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. In this piece Pedro demonstrates his great skills of paying attention to detail. From his impeccable texture, to his flawless lighting, this shows all of the skills Pedro acquired in prime form. That's what makes this piece of artwork so significant. It's simple, yet extravagant look.
My Thoughts
I find this piece of art intriguing. It's very detailed in every aspect of it, an to me that's amazing. And the way the size of the people kinda tricks you. Like the two men in the front. The priest in red looks significantly bigger than the boy next to him. I question this because they are lined up in the same place of the painting, so they should be the same size, but they aren't. I also found it interesting that he included the devil fighting a monk in the back right of the painting.
Relation"ism"
This painting reflects on perspectivism a lot. The way the painting is set up it immediately looks 3D no questions asked. There is a vanishing point and a horizon line. The horizon line is used to judge the size of how an object would look in the painting. And Pedro uses that a lot here. This painting is the definition of perspectivism.
Citations
Apparition of the Virgin. Pedro Berruguete. 1480-1500. Museo del Prado. December 3rd,
2015.
"Google Images." Duke of Urbino-Federico III. December 3rd, 2015.
"Google Images." Pedro Berruguete. December 3rd, 2015.
"Google Images." Toledo Cathedral. December 3rd, 2015.
"Pedro Berruguete." International Dictionary of Art and Artists. Gale, 1990. Biography in Context. Web. 3 Dec. 2015
"Pedro Berruguete." Spanish Arts. N.p., 2011. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.