Painting and Devotion in Golden Age Iberia: Luis de Morales

(Hardback)

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Luis de Morales, known as El Divino because of his intensely religious subject matter, is the most significant and recognizable Spanish painter of the mid-sixteenth century, the high point of the Spanish and Portuguese counter-reformations. He spent almost his entire working life in the Spanish city of Badajoz, not far from the border with Portugal and did not travel outside of a small area around that city, covering both sides of the border. The social, political and cultural environment of Badajoz and its environs is crucial for a thorough understanding of his output. This book provides that context in detail, looking at literature and liturgical theatre, the situation of converted Jews and Muslims, the presence of Erasmianism, Lutheranism and Illuminism (Alumbradismo), devotional writing for laypeople and proximity to the Bragana ducal palace in Portugal as a means of explaining this most enigmatic of painters.

Reviews

Luis de Morales was long considered a shadowy figure, but that perception has changedand Jean Andrews explains why, exploring the context in which Moraless work was produced (the popular culture and religious life of Badajoz and Portugal), and examining the art in light of this. The result is a study of paintings that reveals their beauty, subtlety and depth.
-- Terence OReilly, University College Cork
This is the first major monograph in English on one of the greatest religious painters of Renaissance Spain. Andrews richly illuminates key paintings spanning Luis de Moraless decades-long career in relation to Spanish devotional culture before and after Trent. Traversing disciplinary boundaries, she brings together exquisitely close analysis of the works themselves with considerations of liturgical theatre, sermons, and spiritual treatises. She also moves beyond national narratives of art history to consider Morales as an Iberian painter who lived and worked at the geographical and artistic crossroads of Portugal and Spain.
-- Laura R. Bass, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island

Author Bio

Jean Andrews, Associate Professor, University of Nottingham.