(Image: Supplied)
Renaissance masterpiece painting linked to a late-medieval altarpiece is now on display at a Bishop Auckland gallery.
The Spanish Gallery’s new 16th-century panel, The Marriage of the Virgin, was painted by Paolo da San Leocadio, the Italian artist who helped bring Renaissance styles to Spain.
Experts identified it as part of the main altarpiece created in 1492 for the Church of Santa María de Castellón in Valencia province.
Morlin Ellis, research curator at The Spanish Gallery, said: "The addition to the Spanish Gallery of this painting of The Marriage of the Virgin by one of the most important artists working in Spain in the late 15th century is particularly exciting.
The Marriage of the Virgin by Paolo de San Leocadio (1447-around 1520) (Image: Supplied)
"Not only is it a beautiful work of art but its identification with the same important altarpiece as a work recently acquired by the Prado places the Spanish Gallery in Bishop Auckland alongside one of the greatest art collections in the world."
Madrid’s Museo del Prado recently acquired San Leocadio’s The Agony in the Garden, another panel from the altarpiece.
San Leocadio was born in northern Italy and moved to Valencia in 1472 under the patronage of Cardinal Alejandro Borja, later Pope Alexander VI.
He went on to influence Spanish art profoundly.
Ms Ellis said: "We are delighted that visitors to Bishop Auckland will now be able to discover this exceptional work and the beginnings of the Renaissance in Spain for themselves."
The Spanish Gallery, accredited by Arts Council England, is the only UK museum dedicated entirely to Spanish art, history, and culture.
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The gallery occupies four floors in Bishop Auckland’s historic Market Place and displays works by Spanish Golden Age masters including El Greco, Velázquez and Zurbarán.
The gallery opened in 2021 and was officially inaugurated in April 2022 by Spain’s Queen Letizia and King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales.
The gallery is part of The Auckland Project, a regeneration charity revitalising Bishop Auckland through cultural and historical attractions.