MATES, Joan
(b. ca. 1370, Vilafranca del Penedes, d. 1431, Barcelona)

Sts John the Baptist and John the Evangelist with a Donor

c. 1410
Tempera on panel, 191 x 121 cm
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

This artist worked in the International Gothic style in Catalunya. He is documented between 1392 and 1431. This painting of around 1410 shows how the Italian Sienese style, which was closely connected with the International Gothic, spread throughout Europe. We can appreciate the stylisation of the figures and the highly decorative manner in which they are executed, evident in the snaking ringlets of hair, the folds of the draperies and the rock formations on which they stand. The imitation of nature is overshadowed by an excessive stylisation of the forms in a desire to achieve ever more decorative effects.




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