Reframing the Retablo Inspiration from an Italian sojourn enables Alonso Berruguete to bring the Renaissance to his native Spain. BY NANCY COHEN ISRAEL
Alonso Berruguete (Spanish, c. 1488–1561), Old Testament Prophets (Ezekiel, Isaia, and Saint Christopher), 1526–33, polychromed wood, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid (Spain). Photograph by Guy Rogers, III.
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rom one painting’s departure on one of the last flights out of Italy to the sculpture-laden crates that remained unopened as the world went into lockdown, it had all the trappings of a spy thriller. Such were the circumstances surrounding the delayed installation and opening of Alonso Berruguete: First Sculptor of Renaissance Spain, currently on view at the Meadows Museum. Originally scheduled to open in March, the exhibition came to fruition through a combination of technology and generosity. Videoconferencing enabled lenders to be virtually present while sculptures were uncrated, and lenders graciously granted requests for loan extensions. “All of the private collectors and institutions in Europe and the United States said yes,” says Mark Roglán, the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair in the Meadows School of the Arts. Curated in Dallas by Wendy Sepponen, the museum’s 2018-2020 Mellon Curatorial Fellow, the exhibition brings together some of Berruguete’s most significant sculptures as well as several paintings and works on paper.
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Alonso Berruguete is responsible for some of the most important sculptural commissions in 16th-century Spain. A decade spent in Italy early in his career fueled his creativity and honed his talent. Berruguete moved to Rome sometime around 1506, where he found a vibrant contemporary art scene, due in part to the expansion of the Vatican. It was here that he befriended Michelangelo, whose work would have a profound influence on him. The exposure to the region’s classical sculpture would also inspire Berruguete’s work. Bank records suggest that Berruguete was living in Florence by 1508. Having established himself as a painter, he worked alongside a group of avant-garde artists—including Andrea del Sarto, Michelangelo, and Pontormo—in the emergent Mannerist style. He may have also had his first encounter with modeling in wax during this time. Berruguete went back to Spain in 1518, bringing this new style with him. Shortly after returning, he was named painter of the court by his new patron, Charles I, who would soon become the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. However, Roglán states, “Berruguete is well known enough and well respected enough