MAJOR FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY A GRANT FROM THE SAMUEL H. KRESS FOUNDATION.

VEILED FOR CENTURIES BEHIND A CURTAIN ON THE ALTAR OF A MEDIEVAL CHURCH IN SPAIN, THE RETABLO OF CIUDAD RODRIGO HELD A HISTORY OF SECRETS.

THEN, OVER THE NEXT 400 YEARS A SERIES OF BENEFACTORS...AND SOME LUCK...HELPED THE ARTWORKS SURVIVE NATURAL DISASTER, WAR, AND NEGLECT.

THE SACRED MASTERPIECES WERE MEANT SIMPLY TO RECORD THE LIFE OF CHRIST.

BUT INVESTIGATORS LOOKING BENEATH THE SURFACE MADE UNEXPECTED DISCOVERIES...INCLUDING IMAGES WHICH WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE SEEN.

WHO CREATED THESE PAINTINGS?

WHY WERE THEY KEPT HIDDEN FROM WORSHIPPERS?

HOW DID THEY TRAVEL FROM CIUDAD RODRIGO TO TUCSON, ARIZONA?

AFTER MORE THAN 500 YEARS, THE MYSTERIES OF THE ALTARPIECE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO WILL BE REVEALED.

ART CAN BE BEAUTIFUL AND INSPIRATIONAL, BUT IT CAN ALSO REVEAL AMAZING STORIES ABOUT THE PAST.

500 YEARS AGO, MOST PEOPLE COULD ONLY DREAM OF SEEING THESE PAINTINGS.

THEY WERE KEPT HIDDEN IN A SPANISH CATHEDRAL.

THE PAINTINGS ARE CALLED RETABLO .

IT MEANS ALTARPIECE IN SPANISH.

THE CHURCH COMMISSIONED THE CREATION OF THIS RETABLO TO ADORN THE CATHEDRAL OF CIUDAD RODRIGO, A SMALL BORDER CITY IN THE PROVINCE OF SALAMANCA, SPAIN.

IT’S A BEAUTIFUL CITY THAT IS JUST IN THE BORDER WITH PORTUGAL, THEREFORE IMPORTANT ESPECIALLY FROM A MILITARY STANDPOINT.

ALSO IT’S VERY CLOSE TO SALAMANCA WHICH IS REALLY KNOWN BECAUSE OF ITS UNIVERSITY THAT WAS ONE OF THE OLDEST IN EUROPE.

IT STARTED IN THE EARLY 13TH CENTURY AND FROM WHICH THIS CITY WILL BENEFIT ENORMOUSLY CULTURALLY AS WELL AS WITH EDUCATION.

FOR A SMALL TOWN LIKE CIUDAD RODRIGO, A COMMISSION OF MORE THAN TWO DOZEN PAINTINGS, EACH OVER 5 FEET TALL, SEEMS ESPECIALLY REMARKABLE.

THE VOLATILE POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS CLIMATE OF THAT ERA MAKES THIS UNDERTAKING EVEN MORE EXCEPTIONAL.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CATHEDRAL, BUILT BETWEEN THE 12TH AND 14TH CENTURIES, COINCIDES WITH THE PERIOD THAT MARKED THE DECLINE AND FALL OF ISLAMIC RULE ON THE IBERIAN PENINSULA.

THE RE-CONQUISTA STARTED IN THE 11TH CENTURY.

CHRISTIAN COUNTRIES SLOWLY PUSHED THE ARABIAN FORCES FURTHER AND FURTHER BACK AND BY THE END OF THE 15TH CENTURY, CHRISTIAN ARMIES REACHED THE POINT OF COMPLETE TRIUMPH.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH REALLY HOLDS ON VERY FIRMLY TO ITS POWER AND YOU SEE TO SOME EXTENT INCREDIBLE EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH CULTURE, THE REBUILDING OR THE ERECTION OF NEW CHURCHES OR THE COMPLETION OF MAJOR CATHEDRALS.

THAT EXPLAINS THEN THE FIRMNESS, THE INTENSITY, THE PASSION OF THE ART YOU SEE IN SPAIN.

YOU SEE IT IN SALAMANCA, BEAUTIFULLY.

YOU DROWN WHEN YOU LOOK AT THESE FAÇADES AND THEY HAVE MILLIONS OF LITTLE PIECES, SCULPTURES, FIGURINES, ARCHES, A LITTLE CHURCH’S SPIRES.

IT’S LIKE HEAVEN IS BROUGHT DOWN TO THAT ARCHITECTURE.

AND THE INTERIORS WERE NO EXCEPTION... PERHAPS RECEIVING THE MOST ATTENTION.

ALBERT CLASSEN, A WORLD-RENOWNED MEDIEVALIST, IDENTIFIES THE RETABLO AS THE MOST HOLY SPACE AND THE MAJOR FEATURE WITHIN GOTHIC CHURCHES.

THIS OLD CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA, BUILT FROM 1200 TO 1300, EXEMPLIFIES THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE TIME.

CHRISTIAN CHURCH FUNCTIONS IN A VERY SYSTEMATIC WAY.

BEFORE YOU EVEN ENTER THE CHURCH YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THE FAÇADE.

WELL, THE ENTIRE BIBLICAL TEXT IS WRITTEN INTO STONE.

SO YOU AS THE VIEWER FIRST SHOULD STUDY THAT BOOK.

ENTER THE CHURCH, YOU NEED TO SHED YOUR SINS.

SO WHAT DO YOU DO?

SO YOU GO TO CONFESSIONAL AND THEN YOU MOVE FURTHER IN AND YOU APPROACH THE ALTAR SPACE.

IRONICALLY, IN THE MIDDLE AGES, AND WELL BEYOND, THE MOST DEVOUT WORSHIPPERS, THE COMMON PEOPLE, HAD NO ACCESS TO THE HOLIEST SPACE AND THE PAINTINGS THAT ADORNED IT.

YOU HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND THAT UNTIL THE END OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL IN 1964, NOT IN THE MIDDLE AGES, 1964, THE ALTAR SPACE WAS BASICALLY COMPLETELY COVERED AND NO ONE SAW THE ALTAR SPACE OR THE CHOIR.

LAITY, YOU AND ME, WERE APART.

WE WERE OUTSIDE.

WE DIDN’T SEE THE ALTAR.

THAT WAS THE HOLIEST SPACE.

AND BEHIND THE ALTAR THEY ASCEND THE RETABLO .

PILAR SILVAR MAROTO IS A CURATOR AT THE PRADO MUSEUM IN MADRID.

SHE EXPLAINS THAT ONLY ON HIGH HOLIDAYS WOULD THE CHURCH ALLOW PUBLIC VIEWING OF THE RETABLO .

[SUBTITLES] WHAT IS THE RETABLO ?

BASICALLY YOU HAVE THE HISTORY OF THE PASSION.

A LITTLE BIT SOMETIMES OLD TESTAMENT, LIFE OF CHRIST, BIRTH, VARIOUS REFERENCES TO THE MOTHER, THE ENTIRE STORY OF CHRIST’S LIFE IS THEN WRITTEN INTO THE OIL PAINTINGS AND I USE THE TERM WRITTEN AS A METAPHOR.

YOU AS THE SPECTATOR THEN READ THAT BOOK IN OIL AND THEREBY YOU CAN LEARN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN EVENTS.

SHEER SIZE ALONE MAKES IT UNLIKELY THE RETABLO HAD ONLY ONE CREATOR.

IT WOULD REQUIRE THE COLLABORATIVE EFFORT OF A WORKSHOP, A MASTER ARTIST, HIS APPRENTICES AND OTHER ASSISTANTS.

THEY WERE MASSIVE WORKS OF ART.

IT WAS A COMBINATION OF ARCHITECTURE, OF PAINTINGS, OF GUILDS OF EVERY SORT AND KIND.

SO WE HAD TECHNICIANS WHO WERE MIXING PAINT AND THERE WERE CARPENTERS INVOLVED IN PREPARING THE PINE PANELS AND CABINET MAKERS WHO CARVED ALL OF THE FRAME ESSENTIALLY FOR THIS WONDERFUL ALTARPIECE OF 40 OR 50 PANELS THAT WENT THREE STORIES UP INTO THE AIR.

KEEPING IN MIND HOW VALUABLE THESE PAINTINGS ARE AND AT THAT TIME ALSO WERE, THESE WERE NOT ANY KIND OF STREET PAINTERS WHO JUST QUICKLY DID SOMETHING.

THESE WERE THE BEST.

THESE WERE THE FINEST ARTISTS.

AND ONE OF THOSE SOUGHT-AFTER ARTISTS, FERNANDO GALLEGO, IS BELIEVED TO HAVE CREATED THE RETABLO .

THE EVIDENCE POINTS TO ONE SURVIVING DOCUMENT IN CIUDAD RODRIGO THAT REFERS TO A FERNANDO DE SALAMANCA IN CONNECTION WITH DECORATING THE CHURCH IN 1493 AND 1494.

AND ART HISTORIANS THINK THAT FERNANDO DE SALAMANCA IS ACTUALLY GALLEGO.

PILAR SILVAR MAROTO EMPHASIZES FERNANDO GALLEGO’S PROMINENT PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF SPANISH ART.

[SUBTITLES] HOWEVER, FERNANDO GALLEGO IS NOT NOT ONE OF THE MOST KNOWN FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC ARTISTS BUT FOR THE SPECIALISTS WITHOUT A DOUBT FROM THE 15TH CENTURY IS ONE OF THE KEY ARTISTS THAT WORKED IN GASTILLE AND THEREFORE VERY WELL RESPECTED AND ALSO STUDIED.

BARBARA ANDERSON, THE FOREMOST SCHOLAR OF FERNANDO GALLEGO IN AMERICA, EXPLAINS THAT GALLEGO LIVED AND PAINTED IN SALAMANCA IN THE LAST QUARTER OF THE 15TH CENTURY.

IN THOSE DAYS SALAMANCA BECAME CELEBRATED FOR ITS UNIVERSITY, THE MOST IMPORTANT SEAT OF LEARNING IN SPAIN.

HE WAS PARTICULARLY KNOWN FOR THE ALTARPIECES, THE LARGE MULTI-PANEL PAINTINGS AND ENSEMBLES DONE FOR LARGER CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS IN WESTERN SPAIN.

I BELIEVE IT IS SOMETHING OVER 125 OF HIS PAINTINGS SURVIVE TO THIS DAY, WHICH IS A VERY LARGE NUMBER FOR ANY PAINTER IN THIS TIME IN EUROPE.

ART EXPERTS AGREE THAT THE COLLECTION FROM CIUDAD RODRIGO CONTAIN SOME OF THE FINEST PAINTINGS BY FERNANDO GALLEGO.

HOWEVER, MANY SUSPECT GALLEGO DID NOT WORK AS A SOLO MASTER.

IN FACT, THERE WAS ANOTHER NAME MENTIONED IN THE CHURCH DECORATION.

IT WAS SIMPLY BARTOLOME, AN ARTIST NO ONE HAD HEARD OF.

THIS WILL GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHY WE’VE BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT DOING WHAT WE’RE DOING WITH THIS RESEARCH.

CHARLES GUERIN IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA MUSEUM OF ART, WHICH HOUSES THE RETABLO .

HE SAYS SOME OF THE PANELS MAY CONTAIN VALUABLE CLUES THAT COULD REVEAL THE CREATORS.

AS YOU CAN SEE RIGHT HERE, THERE’S A NAME THAT’S BLEEDING THROUGH THIS WHITE FABRIC AND WE CAN’T QUITE DECIPHER THE NAME AT THIS POINT BUT WE THINK IT’S THE NAME OF THE MASTER WHO PAINTED THIS PARTICULAR FIGURE.

SO THIS KIND OF NOTATION UNDERNEATH THE PAINT WE SUSPECT THAT THERE ARE NAMES LIKE THIS WITH EVERY ONE OF THESE FIGURES AND UP IN HERE.

THAT BLEEDING PAINT, AND THE WISH TO FIND OUT MORE, LED TO AN INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECT USING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY TO STUDY THE PAINTINGS.

THE RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION ASTONISHED ART HISTORIANS AND SCIENTISTS.

WE NOW KNOW NOT ONLY WHO CREATED THIS WORK BUT ALSO A SURPRISING REASON WHY.

WE’LL FIND THAT OUT, LATER.

AS BEAUTIFUL AS THESE PAINTINGS ARE, THE LIFE OF THE ALTARPIECE IS EQUALLY INTRIGUING.

THEY ARE KNOWN TO HAVE SURVIVED NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTERS OVER THE CENTURIES WHILE TRAVELING THOUSANDS OF MILES ACROSS THE GLOBE.

AN INSCRIPTION ON THE DESTROYED FRAME OF THE RETABLO DATED ITS CREATION BETWEEN 1480 AND 1488.

BARBARA ANDERSON EXPLAINS CIUDAD RODRIGO SUFFERED VARIOUS CATASTROPHIC EVENTS, WHICH DAMAGED THE CHURCH AND DEPLETED ITS COFFERS.

ALL THAT LEAD TO THE DETERIORATION AND EVENTUAL DISMANTLING OF THE ALTARPIECE.

IN THE EARLY 1500S, THE APSE, AT THE BACK OF THE CHURCH, WAS CRUMBLING SO MUCH THAT IT HAD TO BE DEMOLISHED AND REBUILT IN ITS PRESENT FORM.

THIS INVOLVED THE TEMPORARY REMOVAL OF THE ALTARPIECE.

AFTER THAT IT WAS PROBABLY UP FOR A CENTURY OR SO UNTIL IT WAS REMOVED ONCE AGAIN WHEN IT WAS OUT OF FASHION AND PROBABLY HAD DETERIORATED CONSIDERABLY.

ANYONE WHO SAW IT AND WROTE ABOUT THE ALTARPIECE IN THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY ALREADY COMMENTED ON ITS BAD CONDITION.

ONCE IT WAS DOWN, IT WAS NEGLECTED IN THE CATHEDRAL AND ALL THE EFFORTS TO RESTORE IT FAILED SO THAT IT LAY IN THE CLOISTER OF THE CATHEDRAL SUBJECT TO THE ELEMENTS AND DETERIORATING AS MANY OBSERVED.

A MAJOR EARTHQUAKE IN THE MID 1700S FURTHER THREATENED THE INTEGRITY OF THE PANELS.

AND IN ADDITION TO NATURAL CATASTROPHES, THE RETABLO ALSO SUFFERED FROM HUMAN ATTACKS.

IN 1812 CIUDAD RODRIGO BECAME A BATTLEFIELD WHEN BRITISH TROOPS, COMMANDED BY THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, CONFRONTED SPANISH FORCES AND THE FRENCH, LED BY NAPOLEON.

AND THERE WAS A MAJOR BATTLE CALLED THE BATTLE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO IN WHICH WELLINGTON WON BUT ONE OF HIS CANNONBALLS LEFT A HOLE IN ONE OF OUR PANELS HERE.

AFTER THEY HAD REMAINED IN OBSCURITY FOR CENTURIES, THE LOCAL DIOCESE SOLD THE RETABLO PANELS IN 1877.

THIS SET IN MOTION NEARLY 100 YEARS OF UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THEIR FINAL DESTINATION.

AN ART DEALER IN MADRID, JOSE FALLOLA, WHO MANAGED HOTEL DE PARIS, SOLD TWENTY-NINE PANELS TO A GUEST WHO WAS STAYING AT THE HOTEL.

THE BUYER, JOHN CHARLES ROBINSON, A FORMER CURATOR AT THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM IN LONDON HAD BEEN SCOUTING FOR TREASURES FOR HIS MUSEUM AS WELL AS FOR PRIVATE COLLECTORS INCLUDING SIR FRANCIS COOK.

ROBINSON TOOK THE WORK BACK TO LONDON, EXHIBITED IT AND IN 1882 SOLD IT TO A WEALTHY GENTLEMAN NAMED SIR FRANCIS COOK.

WHO WAS AN ENGLISHMAN WITH BUSINESS INTERESTS IN SPAIN AND IN PORTUGAL AND WAS VERY FOND OF SPANISH ART, WHICH WAS UNUSUAL AT THIS TIME.

THERE WASN’T MUCH INTEREST IN SPANISH ART IF IT WASN’T VELASQUEZ, MURILLO OR ZURBERÁN.

COOK TOOK THE PAINTINGS OUT TO HIS HOME IN THE COUNTRY AND THEY HUNG IN THAT HOUSE, A MANOR HOUSE OF DESCRIPTION, UNTIL WORLD WAR II.

AROUND THE TIME OF WORLD WAR II WHEN THE ENGLISH WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THE INVASION OF THE NAZIS AND KNOWING THAT THE NAZIS PLUNDERED ART ALL OVER EUROPE, MANY COLLECTORS AND MUSEUMS EVACUATED THEIR COLLECTIONS TO THE UNITED STATES.

AND THE COOK ESTATE DID THE SAME.

THEY SENT THE RETABLO TO TOLEDO, OHIO AND IT SPENT THE WAR IN TOLEDO.

PARTS OF IT WERE SHOWN DURING THAT TIME AND THEN THEY WERE SHIPPED BACK TO ENGLAND IN 1948, ONLY TO BE SHIPPED BACK TO NEW YORK CITY TWO YEARS LATER IN 1950 AND PUT ON CONSIGNMENT AT NOLDER AND COMPANY.

WHILE ON DISPLAY IN NEW YORK, CIUDAD RODRIGO’S LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONSIDERED BUYING BACK THE ALTARPIECE.

REALIZING ITS POOR CONDITION, OFFICIALS DECIDED AGAINST IT.

IN 1954, ART COLLECTOR AND PHILANTHROPIST SAMUEL HENRY KRESS TOOK NOTICE OF THE PANELS AND JUST COULDN’T RESIST ADDING THEM TO HIS COLLECTION OF RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE ART.

HE KEPT THE COLLECTION IN HIS NEW YORK APARTMENT.

SAM KRESS WAS A REMARKABLE GUY.

AS A YOUNG MAN HE STATED A STATIONARY AND DRY GOODS STORE.

HE WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL IN THAT STORE AND HE BEGAN TO USE THOSE PROFITS TO BUILD ADDITIONAL STORES AND EVENTUALLY HE HAD STORES CALLED KRESS FIVE AND DIME ALL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.

HE BEGAN COLLECTING ART IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY IN THE PERIOD THAT HE WAS COLLECTING, VICTORIAN ERA.

THIS WORK WAS SORT OF THOUGHT TO BE OLD FASHIONED AND PASSÉ AND SO THE WORK WAS VERY AFFORDABLE AND HE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THAT.

HE SAW THE RICHNESS AND THE BEAUTY OF THE WORK AND HE BOUGHT OVER 3,000 OBJECTS AND CREATED PROBABLY ONE OF THE LARGEST PRIVATE COLLECTIONS OF RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE PAINTING IN PRIVATE HANDS IN THE UNITED STATES.

KRESS UNDERSTOOD THE RETABLO NEEDED MAJOR WORK TO RESTORE THEM TO A PRISTINE CONDITION.

HE HIRED ONE OF THE BEST RESTORERS OF THE DAY, MARIO MODESTINI.

HE WAS FROM ITALY.

HE’D WORKED FIRST IN HIS FATHER’S STUDIO.

HE WAS A VERY SKILLED RESTORER, WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR RESTORING THE ALTARPIECE OVER A PERIOD OF ABOUT FIVE YEARS.

AND ACTUALLY THEY CHANGED THE COLOR IN THE FINAL PAINTING.

CLAIR BARRY, THE CHIEF CONSERVATOR AT THE KIMBELL MUSEUM IN FORT WORTH, TEXAS, SAYS MODESTINI HAD A HUGE TASK AHEAD OF HIM.

THE PANELS THEMSELVES WERE WARPING AND SEPARATING, THERE WAS A LOT OF FLAKING OF PAINT, PARTICULARLY ALONG THE SEAMS, THE JOINS, AND SO MARIO’S FIRST TASK WAS TO STABILIZE THE PAINT LAYER AND THE PANELS THEMSELVES.

AND SO A TREATMENT INCLUDED A MAJOR STRUCTURAL TREATMENT IN WHICH THE PANELS WERE IN FACT THINNED DOWN AND THE BACKS WERE STABILIZED WITH THE ADDITION OF A CRADLE.

AND A CRADLE IS A SYSTEM OF FIXED VERTICAL AND SLIDING HORIZONTAL STRIPS OF WOOD INTENDED TO ALLOW FOR SOME MOVEMENT IN THE PANEL BUT TO STABILIZE THE PANEL AND TO KEEP IT IN PLANE.

THE PANELS ARE PROBABLY IN BETTER CONDITION THAN MOST PEOPLE ASSUME BECAUSE MOST OF THE FLAKE LOSSES HAVE OCCURRED IN SECONDARY AREAS OR ALONG THE SEAMS.

THERE MAY BE SOME AREAS OF TONING AS WELL BUT THERE ISN’T ANY KIND OF LARGE SCALE OVER-PAINTING OF THE PANELS.

THEY WERE VERY RESPECTFUL OF THE PAINTINGS.

AFTER RESTORING THE PANELS, PROUD OWNER SAMUEL KRESS DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING SURPRISING CONSIDERING HOW MUCH HE’D INVESTED IN THE RETABLO .

KRESS HAD ASSEMBLED AN EXQUISITE COLLECTION ONLY TO TURN AROUND AND GIVE IT ALL AWAY.

THAT DECISION WOULD HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON A SMALL SOUTHWESTERN CITY IN THE ARIZONA DESERT.

THE RETABLO WOULD MAKE A CROSS-COUNTRY TREK TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA IN TUCSON, WHICH WOULD EVENTUALLY LEAD TO THE WELCOME CREATION OF AN ART MUSEUM.

IN 1941 HE GAVE THE MAJORITY OF THOSE COLLECTIONS OF RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE PAINTING TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO WHAT WE NOW CALL THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART.

AT THE SAME TIME, HE GAVE SMALLER NUMBERS, SOMETIMES AS MANY AS TWO OR THREE PAINTINGS TO SMALL MUSEUMS IN EACH OF THOSE COMMUNITIES.

WE IN TUCSON RECEIVED THE LARGEST GIFT OUTSIDE OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF 60 WORKS.

BUT WHY SEND THE RETABLO TO SUCH A DISTANT PLACE WHICH SO FEW PEOPLE IN HIS METROPOLITAN CITY HAD EVER HEARD OF?

SAMUEL KRESS’S BROTHER VISITED TUCSON MANY TIMES OVER THE YEARS AND GOT TO KNOW THE COMMUNITY.

HE ALSO MET PRESIDENT HARVILL, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY AT THE TIME, IT WAS THEY WHO STRUCK UP THE DEAL TO DONATE THE WORKS IF THE UNIVERSITY WOULD AGREE TO BUILD A MUSEUM, WHICH IT DIED.

AND SO THE MUSEUM THAT WE’RE IN RIGHT TODAY WAS CREATED AS A RESULT OF KRESS’S GIFT.

AFTER CENTURIES OF STRIFE, NEGLECT AND UPHEAVAL, THE RETABLO OF CIUDAD RODRIGO FINALLY FOUND A PERMANENT HOME, OR SO IT APPEARS.

BUT THAT WOULD CHANGE.

IN 2003 THE CURATOR OF THE MEADOW’S MUSEUM IN DALLAS, HAPPENED TO VISIT TUCSON FOR AN UNRELATED EVENT.

LITTLE DID MARK ROGLAN SUSPECT THIS ART MUSEUM SO FAR FROM SPAIN WOULD RENEW SUCH A DEEP CONNECTION TO THE LAND OF HIS BIRTH.

MARK ROGLAN CAME TO VISIT US TO DISCUSS THE POSSIBILITY OF LENDING THEIR FIRST EDITION SERIES OF FRANCISCO GOYA’S PRINTS.

I ENTER THE MUSEUM, I WENT TO THE SECOND FLOOR, STEPPED INTO THIS GALLERY THAT WAS FILLED WITH ALL THESE PANELS THAT WERE PAINTED IN THE 15TH CENTURY BY FERNANDO GALLEGO AT HIS WORKSHOP.

I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE THERE.

I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT THERE WERE SO MANY.

I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE IN SUCH GREAT CONDITION.

SO I JUST SAT DOWN AND I REALLY JUST TRIED TO FILTER ALL THIS BEAUTY THAT WAS IN FRONT OF MY EYES.

I’M FROM MADRID, I’M FROM SPAIN.

ONE CANNOT IMAGINE GOING ALL THE WAY TO ARIZONA AND HAVING TO SEE 26 PANELS THAT WERE ONCE IN A CATHEDRAL IN SPAIN.

THEY’RE VERY RARE EVEN TO SEE IN SPAIN ITSELF FROM THIS PERIOD AND FROM THAT SAME DAY WE STARTED TALKING ABOUT THE EXHIBITION OF GOYA PRINTS BUT ALSO ABOUT DOING PROJECT OF THESE PANELS.

FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, ART HISTORIANS, CONSERVATORS AND SCIENTISTS STUDIED THE RETABLO , EMPLOYING THE MOST MODERN TECHNOLOGY, X-RADIOGRAPHY, INFRARED REFLECTOGRAMS, ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT AND MEDIUM ANALYSIS.

THE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECT ULTIMATELY LED TO A REVISION OF THE HISTORY OF THESE PAINTINGS.

WHAT WE’RE TRYING TO DO IS UNDERSTAND THESE WORKS.

WE’RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THEM FROM AN AESTHETIC POINT OF VIEW, FROM A CULTURAL POINT OF VIEW, FROM A RELIGIOUS POINT OF VIEW AND FROM A TECHNICAL POINT OF VIEW.

SO THE MORE THAT WE LEARN ABOUT THE TECHNICAL SIDE AND HOW THEY WERE ACTUALLY PAINTED AND CREATED IN THE STUDIO, IT WILL TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT THE ART HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE.

IT WILL HELP US TO IDENTIFY THE ARTISTS THAT ACTUALLY DID THE VARIOUS THINGS BECAUSE WE KNOW THE MASTER WAS GALLEGO BUT WE DON’T KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT THE SECONDARY MASTERS AND THE APPRENTICES THAT WERE IN THE STUDIO.

SO THROUGH THIS WE’LL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENCES IN STYLE AND BE ABLE TO ATTRIBUTE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF EACH PAINTING TO DIFFERENT ARTISTS AND WE MAY EVEN GAIN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR NAMES.

SOME OF THE NAMES WE KNOW, MANY OF THE NAMES WE DON’T KNOW.

AND SO THE RETABLO , HANGING AT THE MUSEUM FOR FIFTY YEARS, WAS ABOUT TO EMBARK ON YET ANOTHER JOURNEY.

THIS TIME THE ARTWORK TRAVELED EAST TO THE CONSERVATION LAB AT THE KIMBELL ART MUSEUM IN FORT WORTH, TEXAS.

MOVING A PRICELESS PIECE OF ART ALWAYS COMES WITH COMPLICATIONS, BUT THIS MOVE POSED EXTRAORDINARY CHALLENGES.

PANEL ART IS VERY DIFFICULT BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT IT’S MADE OUT OF WOOD.

SO THINGS SUCH AS TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY AFFECT THE PANEL AND CAUSE THEM TO WARP.

WHEN THE WOOD WARPS, PAINT POPS OFF.

YOU CAN’T GO FROM DRY TUCSON TO DALLAS IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS BY TRUCK WITHOUT THAT EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION OF THE WOOD.

SO WE HAD TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CRATES WERE BASICALLY A MICRO CLIMATE.

EXPERTS NEEDED MORE THAN A YEAR JUST TO DESIGN AND BUILD THE CRATES.

THEY ALSO REMOVED THE FRAMES TO MAKE THE ROAD TRIP TO DALLAS EASIER AND SAFER.

TO REDUCE THE RISK OF LOSING OR DAMAGING THE PRICELESS CARGO, TWO SEPARATE TRUCKS TRAVELED NON-STOP, ON A JOURNEY OF MORE THAN 900 MILES.

FINALLY THE PANELS ARRIVED AT THE KIMBELL MUSEUM, WHICH SUPPORTS A STATE-OF-THE-ART CONSERVATION LAB.

CLAIRE BARRY EXPLAINS AN ART CONSERVATOR HAS RESPONSIBILITIES IN ADDITION TO PRESERVATION.

WE ALSO DO RESEARCH SUCH AS TECHNICAL STUDIES TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AN ARTIST’S USE OF MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES THAT SOMETIMES CAN ALSO HELP TO AUTHENTICATE WORKS OF ART.

THIS TECHNICAL STUDY WAS MOTIVATED BY THE DESIRE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DIFFERENT HANDS INVOLVED IN THE CREATION OF THE PANELS AND HOW THE WORKSHOPS DIVIDED THE LABOR.

SO THE AUTHENTICITY OF THIS ALTARPIECE WAS NEVER IN QUESTION.

AND WE HAVE THIS LARGE LIGHT BOX THAT WE USE TO EXAMINE X-RADIOGRAPHS.

THE CONSERVATION TEAM STARTED THE EXAMINATION WITH X-RADIOGRAPHY, MUCH LIKE X-RAYS YOU SEE AT DOCTORS’ OFFICES, TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE OF THE PAINTINGS.

IT PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT CONDITION BECAUSE IT WILL SHOW YOU THE LOCATION OF FLAKE LOSSES AND IT GIVES YOU INFORMATION ABOUT THE DIFFERENT DENSITIES OF DIFFERENT PIGMENTS THAT WERE USED.

X-RADIOGRAPHY REVEALED EVIDENCE OF THE EXCELLENT CONDITION OF THE PANELS, WHICH ENCOURAGED THE TEAM TO PROCEED.

NEXT, THE TEAM SENT A TINY SAMPLE OF ONE PANEL TO THE GETTY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE LAB IN LOS ANGELES FOR THE MEDIUM ANALYSIS.

THE KIND OF ANALYSIS THAT WE’RE DOING RIGHT NOW IS BINDING MEDIUM ANALYSIS.

THE BINDING MEDIUM IN A PAINT IS THE STICKY MATERIAL THAT THE ARTIST ADDS TO THE PIGMENT IN ORDER TO STICK THE PIGMENT ONTO THE SUPPORT.

IN THE 1400S, ARTISTS COULDN’T SIMPLY BUY READY-MADE COLOR IN A TUBE.

THEY HAD TO MAKE THEIR OWN.

PAINTS WERE CREATED ON THE SPOT.

YOU WENT OUT AND YOU COLLECTED MINERALS AND BIOLOGICAL PIGMENTS THAT WERE GROUND UP IN A MORTAR AND PESTLE AND THEN ADDED TO OIL.

SOME OF THE NATURAL PAINT MEDIA THAT ARTISTS WOULD HAVE USED FROM THAT TIME PERIOD WOULD BE DRYING OILS LIKE LINSEED OIL, WALNUT OIL, EGGS, SO THE TEMPURA THAT YOU GET FROM EGGS, CASEIN IS A PROTEIN FROM MILK.

THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN NATURAL RESINS, SO SAPS FROM TREES AND PLANTS.

WE REALLY FULLY EXPECTED THAT WHEN JOY PREPARED AND ANALYZED THE SAMPLES THAT WE WERE GOING TO SEE THE AMINO ACIDS FROM EGG TEMPURA AND THAT JUST TURNED OUT TO BE NOT THE CASE AT ALL.

IN OTHER WORDS, THE ARTISTS DIDN’T USE THE TRADITIONAL MEDIUM OF THE TIME, EGG TEMPURA.

INSTEAD, GALLEGO AND HIS APPRENTICES USED OIL, WHICH SUGGESTS THE STRONG INFLUENCE OF FLEMISH ARTISTS WHO INVENTED THE TECHNIQUE OF OIL PAINTING.

FLEMISH PAINTING WAS PRESENT IN SPAIN, ESPECIALLY IN THE AREA OF CASTILE, IN THE 15TH CENTURY WAS BECAUSE POLITICALLY SPAIN AND FLANDERS ARE GOING TO BE UNITED.

HOWEVER, ALSO THERE WERE ECONOMICAL SITUATIONS AND HERE THE WOOL FROM CASTILE WAS BEING SENT ALL THE WAY TO FLANDERS WHERE IT WAS WOVEN AND THEN SPAIN OR CASTILE WILL BUY BACK MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS.

SO THERE WAS ALL THIS COMMERCE, THERE WAS ALL THESE POLITICAL UNIONS, THEREFORE THERE WERE ALSO CULTURE/ART CONNECTIONS.

WE KNOW THAT VAN EYCK FOR EXAMPLE HE TRAVELED ACROSS CASTILE IN THE 15TH CENTURY.

FLEMISH ART WAS CHARACTERIZED BY ITS USE OF OIL PAINTING WHICH WAS NEW IN EUROPE, ITS LOVE OF THE CONTEMPORARY MATERIAL WORLD IN TEXTURE, IN THE FASCINATION WITH LIGHT AND HOW LIGHT FALLS ON SURFACES.

FERNANDO GALLEGO EMBRACED THE IMPORTED TECHNIQUES, AND ALONG WITH FELLOW CASTILIAN ARTISTS DEVELOPED A DISTINCT STYLE THAT LATER BECAME KNOWN AS HISPANO-FLEMISH; THAT SCHOOL OF ART IS DISTINGUISHED BY ITS NATURALISTIC DETAILS AND USE OF LANDSCAPES AS OPPOSED TO GOLD BACKGROUNDS WITH INTENSE RELIGIOUS THEMES TYPICAL OF SPANISH ART.

THE FIGURES ARE ALMOST LIKE REAL HUMAN BEINGS, DIFFERENT HUMAN BEINGS DEPICTED, ALSO THIS KIND OF INTEREST IN THE DETAILS.

YOU CAN EVEN IDENTIFY WHAT ARE THE PLANTS THAT ARE DEPICTED IN THESE PANELS BECAUSE OF THAT KIND OF BOTANICAL ACCURACY.

YOU CAN SEE JEWELS, TEXTURES OF ALL THESE CLOTHS, DEVELOP IT AND YOU CAN ALMOST TOUCH IT WITH YOUR HANDS.

ALL OF THAT COMES DIRECTLY FROM THE FLEMISH TRADITION.

RESEARCHERS THEN PUZZLED OVER THE NEXT MYSTERY, THE NUMBER OF PIECES CREATED.

WE MAY NEVER KNOW THE CORRECT ANSWER, SO MANY VARIABLES MAKE AN EXACT FIGURE DIFFICULT TO PIN DOWN.

WE CAN BE PRETTY SURE THAT THERE WERE THREE MORE OF WHAT ARE KNOWN AS THE PREDELLA PANELS WHICH ARE THE BOTTOM MOST PANELS.

EACH HAVE TWO BUST-LENGTH FIGURES OF APOSTLES AND THERE ARE OF COURSE TWELVE APOSTLES AND THERE ARE ONLY SIX REMAINING.

SO THAT WOULD BRING US UP TO 29.

BEYOND THAT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF POSSIBILITIES.

WHAT’S ODD ABOUT WHAT REMAINS IN TERMS OF THE SUBJECT MATTER IS THAT THERE ARE NO SCENES OF THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN AND ALMOST ALL CATHEDRALS IN SPAIN WERE DEDICATED TO THE VIRGIN.

IN GALLEGO’S ALTARPIECE OFTEN THOSE SCENES ARE CONFLATED TO TELL MORE THAN ONE STORY IN A SINGLE PANEL.

SO YOU CAN’T SIMPLY SAY THAT THREE SCENES ARE MISSING AND THEREFORE THERE WERE THREE PANELS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MISSING.

SO IT’S A LITTLE IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW.

ONCE THE TEAM REACHED THAT CONCLUSION THEY BEGAN METICULOUS OBSERVATIONS OF THE STYLISTIC DIFFERENCES IN THE PAINTINGS.

THEY WANTED TO DETERMINE THE CREATOR OF EACH INDIVIDUAL PANEL.

BESIDES FERNANDO GALLEGO, TWO NAMES SURFACED AS POSSIBLE COLLABORATORS, FRANCISCO GALLEGO AND MAESTRO BARTOLOME.

IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THEY ARE A SINGLE WORK OF ART MADE UP OF ALL THESE 26 DIFFERENT PANELS BUT THEY WERE MEANT TO BE VIEWED TOGETHER.

THEY WERE MEANT TO LOOK ALIKE.

BUT ONCE YOU START TO LOOK MORE CLOSELY, YOU START TO REALIZE MORE AND MORE CLEAR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE STYLE AND IT’S KIND OF A FUN PUZZLE THAT ANYONE CAN ENGAGE IN THIS EXERCISE BUT WHAT I OFTEN TELL PEOPLE IS FROM THE VERY START THE TWO ARTISTS HAVE DIFFERENT CONVENTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO DEPICTING HALOS.

THE FIRST MASTER PAINTS CHRIST’S HALO IN A THREE-PART DIVISION LIKE THE TRINITY.

THE SECOND MASTER, ALSO KNOWN AS THE MASTER OF COSTUMES, ALWAYS DEPICTS A HALO WITH RAYS FANNED OUT IN A CONTINUOUS ARC.

FROM THIS AND OTHER DISTINCTIVE STYLISTIC DIFFERENCES, WE CAN IDENTIFY ONE OF THE ARTISTS AS FERNANDO GALLEGO BY COMPARING OTHER WORKS SIGNED BY HIM.

FORTUNATELY, THREE PAINTINGS WITH GALLEGO’S SIGNATURE HAVE SURVIVED FOR CENTURIES.

ONE’S IN THE PRADO MUSEUM, ONE’S HERE AT THE CATHEDRAL MUSEUM IN SALAMANCA RIGHT HERE AND THE OTHER ONE IS IN THE CATHEDRAL OF SAMORA.

WITH THOSE THREE SIGNED PANELS AND OTHER WORKS THAT ARE CLEARLY DOCUMENTED AS BEING BY FERNANDO GALLEGO THANKS TO CONTRACTS, AS ART HISTORIANS WE LOOK AT THE IMAGES AND WE COMPARE THOSE.

WE COMPARE FACES, WE COMPARE BACKGROUND DETAILS, TO THE IMAGES AT CIUDAD RODRIGO AND THERE’S NO QUESTION THAT THEY ARE BY FERNANDO GALLEGO.

WHAT WAS IN A LITTLE BIT MORE DOUBT WAS WHO THIS OTHER ARTIST WAS THAT HELPED FERNANDO GALLEGO IN THE ALTARPIECE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO , THIS ARTIST THAT WE NOW CALL THE MAESTRO BARTOLOME OR MASTER BARTOLOME.

THAT ONE WAS A LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFICULT BECAUSE THERE’S NO CONTRACTUAL EVIDENCE, THERE’S NO INSCRIPTION, NOTHING REFERS TO IN THE TEXT TO THE MAESTRO BARTOLOME.

BUT THERE IS A PANEL IN THE PRADO MUSEUM THAT’S SIGNED BARTOLOMEOS, THE LATIN VERSION OF THE SPANISH NAME BARTOLOME.

THAT PANEL, WHICH IS JUST A VIRGIN AND CHILD, WE WERE ABLE TO COMPARE THAT IMAGE OF THE FACIAL FEATURES SAY OF THE VIRGIN TO ALSO FEMALE FIGURES AND FACES AND THINGS LIKE THAT IN THE ALTARPIECE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO AND ALSO THE ALTARPIECE IN THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA IN TRUJILLO WHICH IS ONE WE NOW BELIEVE THAT WAS ALSO A COLLABORATION BETWEEN FERNANDO GALLEGO AND THE MAESTRO BARTOLOME.

NEARLY HALF OF THE TWENTY-SIX PANELS FOLLOW FERNANDO GALLEGO’S STYLE.

THE REST SUGGEST THE TOUCH OF MAESTRO BARTOLOME.

BARTOLOME LOVES ELABORATE ARCHITECTURAL SETTINGS, HE LOVES JEWELS AND HE LOVES ELABORATE COSTUMES.

SOMETIMES HE INVENTED COSTUMES.

WHERE AS GALLEGO PREFERRED SIMPLER BACKDROPS MORE LIKE STAGE SETS AND HE ALWAYS DEPICTED COSTUMES THAT WERE ACCURATE DEPICTIONS OF CONTEMPORARY DRESS.

SO THOSE ARE SOME BIG DIFFERENCES.

BARTOLOME WAS INCREDIBLY SKILLED AT MANIPULATING OIL PAINT FOR DECORATIVE AFFECTS.

HERE WE SEE A GOLD GOBLET AND ADJACENT TO THAT WE SEE GOLD HALOS.

THE HALOS ARE ACTUALLY REAL GOLD.

THIS, WHICH LOOKS IDENTICAL TO US, IS ACTUALLY PAINT AND SO THIS ARTIST WAS AN INCREDIBLY CAPABLE ARTIST TO BE ABLE TO USE YELLOW AND BROWN COLOR TO IMITATE SO CLOSELY GOLD WHICH IS JUST ADJACENT TO IT.

YOU CAN ALMOST TELL HE’S GOT A GREAT EYE FOR FASHION.

HE’S PAINTING ALL THESE LITTLE ITTY BITTY DETAILS OF PEARLS.

SO YOU’LL SEE THE REFLECTION HE’S PAINTING ON PEARLS OR INDIVIDUALS, I MEAN HE MUST HAVE HAD A BRUSH WITH FOUR HAIRS IN IT OR SOMETHING TO PAINT THESE LITTLE ITTY BITTY DOTS FOR THE FRINGE ON A WRAP.

I’M CONVINCED HE HAD A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR.

ONE OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE RESURRECTION WHO’S FALLEN ASLEEP, ONE OF THE GUARDS, HE’S NOT JUST KIND OF ASLEEP, HE’S REALLY ASLEEP.

THERE’S FIVE HUGE DROPS OF DROOL HANGING OUT OF HIS MOUTH SO YOU GET A SENSE THAT THESE GUYS HAD SENSES OF HUMOR.

YET THE PAINTINGS’ UNDER DRAWINGS CONFIRMED THE ART HISTORIANS’ THEORY OF AUTHORSHIP.

UNDER DRAWINGS REMAIN ALMOST INVISIBLE TO THE EYE.

AN INFRARED CAMERA CAN PENETRATE THE SURFACE OF THE PAINT, REVEALING A DRAWING OR SKETCH ON CANVAS THAT GUIDED THE APPLICATION OF COLOR.

PROFESSOR CHARLES FALCO, A LEADING OPTICAL SCIENTIST, RECENTLY MODIFIED A COMMERCIAL DIGITAL CAMERA TO WORK IN INFRARED.

HE EXPLAINS THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND CAPTURING HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES OF THE INVISIBLE FOR THE HUMAN EYE.

MOST PAINTINGS STARTED WITH EITHER A WOOD OR A CANVAS BACKGROUND.

FIRST THE ARTIST WOULD APPLY A WHITE GESSO COVERING TO THEM.

THEN THEY APPLY THE PIGMENTS ILLUSTRATED HERE BY BLACK, BLUE, GREEN AND RED.

IF WE SHINE LIGHT ON THEM, THE REASON WHY A BLACK PIGMENT IS BLACK IS NOTHING IS REFLECTED BACKWARDS, IT ABSORBS EVERYTHING.

IF WE TAKE THE BLUE, THE REASON WHY IT LOOKS BLUE IS IT REFLECTS BACK TO BLUE, EVERYTHING ELSE IS ABSORBED, SIMILARLY FOR THE GREEN AND RED.

SOME OF THE INFRARED ACTUALLY PENETRATES ALL THE WAY TO THE WHITE GESSO AND REFLECTS BACK TO THE CAMERA.

SO LET’S SEE WHAT AN INFRARED REFLECTOGRAM OF THIS LOOKS LIKE.

WE SEE THERE ARE LINES THAT ARE REVEALED, VERY STRAIGHT LINES, AND IF WE TRACE THOSE LINES THEY GO TO A VERY SHARP VANISHING POINT.

THIS TELLS US THAT THIS ARTIST CONSTRUCTED THAT PEDESTAL USING THE LAWS OF GEOMETRICAL PERSPECTIVE AND SO IT’S AN INSIGHT INTO THE ARTISTIC PRACTICE OF THIS ARTIST 500 YEARS AGO.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF THIS RESEARCH HAS BEEN THE INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHY THAT WE’VE DONE.

THE DRAWING BECOMES THE FINGERPRINT OF THE ARTIST AND THROUGH THAT DRAWING WE CAN IDENTIFY SUBTLE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ONE ARTIST AND ANOTHER ARTIST.

THANKS TO THE STUDY AT THE KIMBELL MUSEUM AND OTHER STUDIES AT THE PRADO MUSEUM AND ALSO THE STUDY OF THE ALTARPIECE OF TRUJILLO , THOSE UNDER DRAWINGS CONFIRMED WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE PAINTING AND REALLY SOLIDIFIED NOT ONLY THAT THESE WERE BY FERNANDO GALLEGO AND BY THE MAESTRO BARTOLOME BUT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THEIR WORKING PROCESS AS WELL.

THERE WERE A LOT OF OBVIOUS THINGS THAT CAME TO LIGHT.

ONE IS THAT GALLEGO MADE CONSISTENT USE OF COLOR NOTES IN HIS UNDER DRAWINGS.

THESE COULD HAVE SERVED A VARIETY OF PURPOSES.

WE’RE NOT ABSOLUTELY SURE.

BUT THEY SEEM TO BE NOTES INTENDED FOR ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE WORKSHOP WHO HELPED HIM IN PAINTING THE DRAPERIES OR COSTUME DETAILS BECAUSE THE COLOR NOTES CONSISTENTLY APPEAR IN AREAS OF DRAPERY OR COSTUME DETAILS.

THEY NEVER APPEAR IN THE BACKGROUND OR IN THE FLESH TONES.

WE FOUND ABSOLUTELY NO COLOR NOTES IN ANY OF THE PANELS BY BARTOLOME.

THIS STYLE OF THEIR UNDER DRAWING WAS ALSO DIFFERENT.

FOR EXAMPLE, IN GALLEGO’S WORK, ALL OF HIS DRAWING IS VERY FINELY RENDERED.

WE SEE A FULL LEVEL OF RENDERING AND SHADING IN HIS WORK.

HIS TREES FOR EXAMPLE HAVE A FULL ROUNDED NOTION WHERE AS BARTOLOME FOR EXAMPLE WOULD ONLY PUT A FEW SCRIBBLES UP THERE TO INDICATE, I WANT A TREE THERE.

BARTOLOME QUOTED MUCH MORE LIBERALLY FROM PRINT SOURCES AND WHEN HE WAS QUOTING PASSAGES FROM A PRINT SOURCE, SAY, A SCHONGAUER PRINT, YOU SEE LESS UNDER DRAWING IN THOSE PANELS BECAUSE HE HAD A PRINT IN FRONT OF HIM.

MAYBE IT WASN’T NECESSARY TO CREATE QUITE SUCH AN ELABORATE UNDER DRAWING.

SO YOU SEE MORE VARIATION IN THE UNDER DRAWINGS OF THE BARTOLOME PANELS.

THE UNDER DRAWING STUDY OF THE PANEL THE LAST JUDGMENT ALSO REVEALED THE IDENTIFY OF THE THIRD ARTIST, FRANCISCO GALLEGO.

ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THE MEADOWS AND WHY MARK WAS INTERESTED IN THIS PROJECT IS NOT ONLY BECAUSE THESE ARE GREAT WORKS OF ART BUT THERE’S A PANEL IN THE MEADOWS COLLECTION AS WELL.

IT WAS ACTUALLY PURCHASED IN THE 60S AS A FERNANDO GALLEGO AND THEN VERY SOON AFTER THAT DEBATE BEGAN IF IT WAS FERNANDO GALLEGO OR FRANCISCO GALLEGO.

FRANCISCO GALLEGO IS A YOUNGER, POSSIBLY RELATIVE, BUT YOUNGER COLLEAGUE OF FERNANDO’S.

HE’S KNOWN PARTLY THROUGH CONTRACTS AND THROUGH EXTANT WORKS THAT ARE ALL IN SPAIN.

AND WE STARTED LOOKING AT THE CIUDAD RODRIGO ALTARPIECE TOO AND WE FOUND A COUPLE OF FIGURES IN THE LAST JUDGMENT PANEL THAT ARE VERY CLEARLY FRANCISCO GALLEGO.

FRANCISCO GALLEGO HAD A GREAT WAY OF PAINTING THESE SORT OF BULBOUS EYES WITH LARGE BAGS UNDER THEM AND UPTURNED NOSES.

THE UNDER DRAWING WAS SORT OF THE FINAL BIT OF EVIDENCE THAT CONVINCED US A HUNDRED PERCENT THIS IS A FRANCISCO GALLEGO.

FERNANDO’S UNDER DRAWING IS VERY ELEGANT AND DETAILED.

HE USES A LOT OF PARALLEL HATCHING TO INDICATE SHADOWS AND VOLUME.

FRANCISCO GALLEGO’S UNDER DRAWING IS THIS VERY SORT OF THICK, CHOPPY DRAWING THAT IS REALLY MAINLY USED FOR CONTOURS.

SO HE DOESN’T DO A LOT OF SHADING.

HE DOESN’T DO HARDLY ANY HATCHING AT ALL AND IT LOOKS VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.

SO YOU DEFINITELY GET A SENSE THAT FRANCISCO WAS NOT TRAINED AS A DRAFTSMAN THE WAY THAT FERNANDO WAS AND YOU REALLY SEE HOW VERY DIFFERENT THEY ARE.

CAN YOU SHARPEN THE FOCUS A LITTLE BIT TOO?

THE UNDER DRAWINGS ALSO UNCOVERED MANY COMPOSITIONAL CHANGES IN THE PANEL, GIVING RESEARCHERS A GLIMPSE OF WHAT THE ARTISTS MAY HAVE BEEN INTENDING WHEN COMPOSING THE WORK.

WE WOULD BE EXCITED WHENEVER WE WOULD SEE A MAJOR EVIDENCE OF CHANGE BETWEEN THE INITIAL COMPOSITION AND THE FINAL PAINTING AND THOSE CHANGES ARE CALLED PENTIMENTI.

AS WE WERE SEEING THESE UNDER DRAWINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME, LITTLE THINGS LIKE THE ELIMINATION FO A PLANT IN THE FOREGROUND WHICH CAN SEEM LIKE A MINOR REFINEMENT.

WE SAW THAT IN THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN BY GALLEGO.

BUT WHEN YOU CONSIDER THAT THE PLANT WAS MOST LIKELY A LILY PLANT WHICH HAD ICONOGRAPHIC SIGNIFICANCE, YOU REALIZE THAT SOME OF THESE CHANGES HAD GREATER SIGNIFICANCE THAN MIGHT FIRST MEET THE EYE.

OR THE ELIMINATION OF THE MAGDALENE’S JAR FROM ONE OF THE PASSION PANELS.

THE LOAF OF BREAD THAT YOU SEE ON THE TABLE OF THE LAST SUPPER BY THE MAESTRO BARTOLOME WAS FIRST DRAWN IN THE SHAPE OF A SPANISH LOAF OF BREAD CALLED A ROSCO, IT’S LIKE AN OVAL LOAF OF BREAD, AND YOU WONDER, WAS THIS A JOKE OR DID THE ARTIST DRAW THAT AND DID SOMEONE COME ALONG AND SAY, YOU KNOW, THAT REALLY NEEDS TO BE UNLEAVENED BREAD, YOU NEED TO CHANGE IT.

CREATION OF EVE BY MAESTRO BARTOLOME CONTAINS CURIOUS PENTIMENTI THAT INDICATE THE PAINTER’S OWN ARTISTIC INFLUENCES.

WE REALIZED THAT THERE WAS A MAJOR CHANGE IN THE DEPICTION OF EVE.

FIRST SHE HAD BEEN DRAWN AS A KNEELING FIGURE WITH HER HANDS FOLDED IN PRAYER.

AND THEN SHE HAD BEEN CONVERTED TO A FIGURE THAT WAS MORE IN A STANDING UPRIGHT POSITION SHIFTED DOWNWARDS AND SHE WAS ACTUALLY SHOWN COMING DIRECTLY OUT OF ADAM’S RIB.

SO IT WAS NOT ONLY A COMPOSITIONAL CHANGE BUT IT WAS A CHANGE THAT HAD SOME ICONOGRAPHIC SIGNIFICANCE.

I THINK BARBARA ANDERSON HAD ALREADY SUGGESTED THAT BARTOLOME WAS INSPIRED BY IMAGES IN THE LIBER CHRONICARUM .

BUT IT WAS LATER WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE TO GO AND LOOK AT THE LIBER THAT WE COULD SEE DIRECTLY THE WOOD CUT PRINT THAT INSPIRED BARTOLOME’S COMPOSITION AND SEE THAT HE WAS DIRECTLY COPYING THAT IMAGE, EVEN THE STYLE OF THE UNDER DRAWING.

TODAY, COPYRIGHT ISSUES WOULD PRESENT PROBLEMS, BUT IN THE 1400S, ARTISTS FELT FLATTERED TO HAVE OTHERS COPY THEIR WORKS.

MAESTRO BARTOLOME TOOK INSPIRATION FROM POPULAR PUBLICATIONS FO THE TIME INCLUDING THE LIBER CHRONICARUM (THE NUREMBERG CHRONICLE) , A BEST SELLER IN THE 15TH CENTURY, WRITTEN IN LATIN BY HARTMAN SCHEDEL, A GERMAN DOCTOR.

SCHEDEL WAS ALSO A WRITER, HISTORIAN, TRAVELER AND SO FORTH AND HE CREATED THEN THE WORLD CHRONICLE WHICH BECAME THE BIGGEST BOOK PRODUCTION OF THE ENTIRE WORLD AT THAT TIME AND HAS REMAINED PROBABLY ONE OF THE BIGGEST BOOKS EVER.

IT WAS ALSO EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE.

IT IS A WORLD CHRONICLE, A CHRONICLE TELLING US THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF MANKIND FROM ADAM AND EVE, EXPULSION FROM PARADISE UNTIL THE LATE 15TH CENTURY.

WE HAVE NO REFERENCE TO AMERICA.

THEY DIDN’T KNOW YET ABOUT AMERICA.

AMERICA WAS DISCOVERED IN 1492 AND THAT NEWS SPREAD FAIRLY QUICKLY BUT IT TOOK A COUPLE OF DECADES UNTIL PEOPLE REALLY FULLY UNDERSTOOD WHAT THEY HAD DISCOVERED.

LOOK CLOSELY AND YOU MAY NOTICE ONE PANEL LOOKS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE REST.

TITLED CHAOS , BY BARTOLOME, THE WORK APPEARS ALMOST MODERN.

IT ALSO CONTAINS MOTIFS FROM THE LIBER CHRONICARUM .

BARTOLOME REPRESENTS A STANDING FIGURE IN AN ALMOND SHAPED MANDORLA.

THIS IS PROBABLY A REFERENCE TO PLATO WHICH IS REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT OF LIBER CHRONICARUM .

THE LIBER CHRONICARUM ALSO USES LETTERS THAT BARTOLOME PICKED UP IN CHAOS .

THERE IS AN H IN THE CHAOS WHICH IS ACTUALLY NOT PART OF THE SPANISH 15TH CENTURY SPELLING OF THAT WORD.

AND THEN FINALLY THE ANGELS ARE RELATED TO THE LIBER CHRONICARUM AS WELL BECAUSE HE HAS TAKEN THESE BUST LENGTH ANGELS AND THEIR SIGNS AND COMPOSED THEM VERY SIMILARLY TO THE WAY YOU’LL SEE THEM IN THE LIBER CHRONICARUM AND THEY ALSO LOOK VERY MUCH LIKE THOSE ANGELS WITH VERY SPRINGY, CURLY HAIR AND HEADBANDS.

FROM THIS EXAMINATION, ONE INTERESTING FACT EMERGED.

ACCORDING TO ARCHIVES, ARTISTS COMPLETED THE PANELS IN 1488 BUT THE NUREMBURG CHRONICLE HAD ITS FIRST PRINTING IN 1493.

CLEARLY, ARTISTS ADDED THIS PANEL LATER.

THE RESEARCH SHOWED THAT MANY ADDITIONS WOULD FOLLOW.

IT CAN’T BE A COINCIDENCE AND THEY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BASED ON A SIMILAR SOURCE BECAUSE THEY ARE SIMPLY TOO CLOSELY TIED.

ALL OF THESE PANELS CONVEY ONE COMMON THEME, THE ADVENT OF APOCALYPSE.

THE TEMPTATION IS A SCENE IN WHICH CHRIST IS TEMPTED AND SURVIVES THESE TEMPTATIONS AND IT IS PART OF A SERIES THAT LEADS US TO THE APOCALYPSE AND THE LAST JUDGMENT WHICH PROBABLY ALSO WAS ADDED SOMEWHAT LATER THAN THE 1480 DATE.

THE CREATION SCENES ARE PART OF THE SWEEP FROM BEGINNING TO END.

THE APOCALYPSE WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN CLOSEST TIED TO THE MILLENNIUM ARE THE LAST THINGS.

THIS IS CALLED ESCHATOLOGY.

BUT YOU CAN’T HAVE THE LAST THINGS WITHOUT THE FIRST THINGS SO ALL APOCALYPTIC VISIONS HAD THE CREATION AS WELL AS THE END OF THE WORLD.

THIS LED RESEARCHERS TO ASK THE OBVIOUS QUESTION, WHY WOULD ANYONE ADD TO THE PANELS YEARS LATER?

AND I THINK WE HAVE TO LOOK AT ALL THESE ART WORKS, NOT JUST AESTHETIC MASTERPIECES, WHICH THEY CERTAINLY ARE.

THEY ARE SOME OF THE MOST STUNNING ART WORKS OF THE TIME.

BUT I THINK THEY HIDE AND COVER UP A TREMENDOUS SENSE OF INSECURITY, A FEAR.

OH, MY GOD, THINGS COULD COLLAPSE.

I BELIEVE THEY WERE ADDED LATER BECAUSE OF THE SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN THIS PERIOD.

THIS WAS AN ERA OF TURMOIL FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.

IN 1492 THERE WAS THE DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD.

THIS BROUGHT ON A KIND OF MILLENNIAL FEVER IN PART BY CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS WHO WAS LIVING IN SALAMANCA BEFORE HE MADE HIS TRIP TO THE NEW WORLD.

COLUMBUS, 1492, DISCOVERS AMERICA.

SO BUT WHAT DOES HE DISCOVER?

HE ALSO DISCOVERS MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ADHERENT OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.

AHHH, WHAT ARE WE DOING, WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH DOING, SUDDENLY REALIZING THAT THERE IS A HUGE WORLD OUT THERE NOT CHRISTIAN.

THIS WAS A SIGN THAT WE WERE AT A NEW ERA AND THE MILLENNIUM WAS ABOUT TO BEGIN AND THERE WOULD BE THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST BECAUSE ALL PAGANS WOULD BE CONVERTED AND THIS IS WHEN CHRIST WOULD REAPPEAR.

THAT WAS ONE SIGN.

THE OTHER WAS THAT THE JEWS WERE EXPELLED IN 1492 FROM SPAIN BY THE SAME CATHOLIC MONARCHS, ISABELLA AND FERDINAND, AND CIUDAD RODRIGO WAS A MAIN SITE OF THEIR EXODUS AND ALSO THEIR RE-ENTRY AS CONVERTED CHRISTIANS.

IN ADDITION, CIUDAD RODRIGO HAD UNDERGONE ATTACKS OF THE PLAGUE, SO THIS TOO WAS A SIGN OF THE MILLENNIUM AND IT WAS A SIGN OF PUNISHMENT FROM GOD.

IT WAS JUST AN ERA OF GREAT ANXIETY AND GREAT EXHILARATION.

I THINK IT IS ENTIRELY APPROPRIATE THAT THE ICONOGRAPHY OF AN ALTARPIECE WOULD HAVE REFLECTED CIUDAD RODRIGO’S PLACE AT THIS MOMENT.

SO WE ARE FACING REALLY A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO HOLD ONTO SOMETHING.

IT’S LIKE THE LAST STRAW ALMOST, THEREFORE THE FLAMBOYANT STYLE, THEREFORE THE RETABLOS , THEREFORE THESE BEAUTIFUL GOTHIC PAINTINGS.

THEY REFLECT THE DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO RE-CREATE ONE MORE TIME, TO REVIVE ONE MORE TIME, TO HOLD ON ONE MORE TIME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD THAT IS REALLY VANISHING.

YOU KNOW, THEY WEREN’T THAT DIFFERENT FROM US.

THEY HAD SIMILAR CONCERNS.

1500 THEY THOUGHT WAS THE END OF THE WORLD.

WELL TODAY PEOPLE STILL, Y2K AND THE YEAR 2000, SO I THINK PERSONALLY THESE PEOPLE HAD SIMILAR ISSUES, SIMILAR LIVES THAT WE HAVE.

I FEEL LIKE I’VE MET THESE PEOPLE FROM 500 YEARS AGO.

NOT ONLY IS THE RETABLO RETURNING FROM ITS JOURNEY BUT ALL OF US WHO HAVE WORKED ON THIS PROJECT ARE RETURNING FROM OUR JOURNEY AS WELL, A JOURNEY OF KNOWLEDGE THAT WE WOULD HAVE NEVER IMAGINED.

ALTHOUGH THEY DEPICTED THE APOCALYPSE, WE KNOW THESE ARTISTS DREAMED THEIR WORK WOULD BE ETERNAL.

WITH THE HELP OF MODERN TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY, THE RETABLO OF CIUDAD RODRIGO CONTINUES TO INSTRUCT AND INSPIRE IN WAYS THE ARTISTS COULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED.

PERHAPS FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL DISCOVER EVEN MORE, BETWEEN THESE LAYS OF ART AND HISTORY.

MAJOR FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY A GRANT FROM THE SAMUEL H. KRESS FOUNDATION.