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Bartolome Bermeho

Exhibition October 9, 2018 − January 27, 2019
The Prado Museum in Madrid presentsBartolome de Cardenas exhibition nicknamed Bermeho (Red) - one of the most hypnotic and attractive artists of the XV century. The exhibition presents almost fifty works from the collections of the institution and more than twenty-five borrowed. After completion of the work in the Prado exhibition with small variations will be placed in the National Museum of Catalonia.

Bartolome de Cardenas (1440 - 1501) was born in Cordoba and traveled extensively in Spain, including such cities as Valencia, Daroca, Zaragoza and Barcelona. He was a stranger and, moreover, a cross-Jew, so he was forced to bypass the rules of the local guilds. To this end, he often teamed up with much less skilled local craftsmen. Despite this, the pseudonym, with which he proudly signed some of his most innovative works, shows that Bermejo was a strong personality, well aware of his abilities.

Based on the oil painting technique of the Flemish masters, Bermejo developed his realistic language based on illusory effects and an impressive range of colors. His technical mastery was combined with the amazing ability to reinterpret all kinds of themes and iconographies. All this attracted the attention of both clients - from high-ranking priests and noblemen to wealthy merchants - and colleagues, who often imitated his compositions. After death, the name Bermejo and his work have long disappeared into obscurity, and was revived only at the end of the 19th century, when a number of exceptional panels attracted the interest of both international collectors and falsifiers.