Csornay Boldizsár - Dobos Zsuzsa - Varga Ágota - Zakariás János szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 99. (Budapest, 2003)

NYERGES, ÉVA: New Attribution in the Spanish Collection: An Hitherto Unidentified Painting by José del Castillo

mark the Budapest picture and are typical of the artist, as well as the monumental treatment of the draperies may be put forward as ample proof for our attribution of the master. The Death of Saint Anthony Abbot is presumably dating from the end of José del Castillo's career, at least the last decade. The distinctive attitude of the torso of an angel carrying a wreath in the sketch (fig. 31), for an altarpiece of the titular saints that he painted for the San Justo y Pastor church in Madrid is characteristic of del Castillo, and recurs in the Budapest picture, as well. This particular motif undoubtedly reflects the influence of Roman painting, particularly Corrado Giaquinto. Another analogous work is del Castillo's altarpiece for the San Francisco el Grande, The Meeting of Saints Francis and Dominic (in situ), which was commissioned in 1782. Although not mentioned at the consecration of the church on 8 December 1784,

17 the painting was surely finished by 1785, when a payment of 4,000 reales was made to the artist, which sum however fell short of that fixed in the original contract.

18 The painting in Budapest and the altarpiece in Madrid share a brownish color scheme, while the large, somewhat flatly modelled draperies and the treatment of light effects are also similar. These similarities provide a dating for The Death of Saint Anthony Abbot to after 1785, as well, and even more probably to the last decade, 1790. This view is endorsed by the above mentioned sketch for the San Justo y Pastor altarpiece, too, which may also be dated to around 1790 on the basis of the dedication and the date on the reverse.

19 ÉVA NYERGES Translated by Axel Vecsey 17 Sambricio, loc.cit. (n. 13) 21-22. 18 Ibid., 22. 19 Ibid., 42. The artist recorded the year 1790, when he presented it to Francisco Lorenzana, Bishop of Toledo, on the reverse of the canvas. The painting today is in the Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid. I would like to express my gratitude to Director Maria Cano for providing me with the photograph of the work.