documented 1468 -1507 · Spanish-Flemish Gothic and large Castilian altarpieces

Angular faces, broken drapes, Flemish details and stories of the Passion make Fernando Gallego a major master of Castilian painting at the end of the Middle Ages.

Fernando Gallego is documented between 1468 and 1507, mainly in Salamanca and in the major religious centers of Castile. Biographical data remains rare, but three signed works make it possible to reconstruct his style and attribute to his workshop an important set of panels and altarpieces. Gallego represents one of the peaks of the Spanish-Flemish movement, born from the meeting between Iberian traditions and models from the ancient Netherlands. From Flemish painting, he retains the precision of materials, meticulous landscapes, complex architecture and the expressive intensity of faces. However, he adapts them to the monumental scale of the Castilian altarpiece and to a narrative immediately readable religious figures. Angular figures, broken folds, harsh gestures and deep colors give the Passion of Christ exceptional physical tension. His Pietà, one of his first preserved and signed works, brings the wounded body of Christ and the contained pain of the Virgin closer together with an almost sculptural frankness. Ciudad Rodrigo's altarpiece, executed with a vast workshop, deploys numerous biblical episodes in which accessories, soldiers, executioners and architecture multiply the narrative benchmarks. Gallego also works for the cathedrals of Plasencia, Coria, Zamora and Salamanca. Like many altarpiece masters, he coordinates assistants and collaborators while maintaining a strong coherence of drawing and expression. Its activity continued at the beginning of the 16th century, at a time when Renaissance forms began to penetrate the peninsula. The "Fernando Gallego" selection notably compares Flagellation and The Last Judgment. His reading favors light.

Gallego combines Flemish meticulousness with Castilian gravity: every detail describes the world, every face intensifies the sacred drama.