HUGUET, Jaume

This Last Supper is a late work by Jaume Huguet whose art is highly characteristic of the period. In these late works the master heightened the effect of splendour by using embossed metal plates. Almost four centuries had passed since the painter of Seo de Urgell produced his altar panel. Now we have a representation of Christ not on his throne but at table with his disciples: Christ is still the central figure in the composition but this is no longer emphasized by the halo or a difference in size; the means are now purely pictorial - a cloak darker in hue than those of the disciples, the eyes looking straight at the spectator, and the movement of the disciples as they lean towards him. Huguet certainly did not achieve the unity seen in Leonardo’s great work, but this painting does show that he was striving to group his figures effectively. Renaissance paintings revealing a knowledge of perspective had not yet reached Huguet’s workshop, but he already shows a Renaissance enjoyment of the small things of life: the bread and the glass of wine on the table are not merely symbolic, they constitute a still-life. There is a similar enjoyment in his representations of the cat, the bird, the apple on the table and the mosaic pattern of the floor.

Huguet is an exemplary representative of Catalan painting of the 15th century, which remained indebted to medieval tradition and almost untouched by the innovations of the Early Renaissance. There are no records documenting his work before the year 1448, when he was commissioned to paint a St James altar for Arbeca. Between then and 1486, he executed a lengthy series of polyptychs, of which his Saints Abdon and Sennen Altar (1458-1460) and Three Kings altar (Barcelona, Museo de Historia de la Ciudad, 1464) stand out in particular. Huguet’s painting underwent no notable stylistic development. He generally stuck to a gold background; spatial details were kept to a minimum, and the two-dimensional plane prevailed over physical volume. Huguet was so busy that he gradually employed more and more assistants in his workshop, which resulted in his works deteriorating in technical quality and becoming somewhat hackneyed in their appearance.

Jaume Huguet’s best-preserved work is his Saints Abdon and Sennen Altar, executed for St Peter’s church in Terrassa, near Barcelona. This detail shows the main picture, featuring the standing figures of the two martyrs of late antiquity. Although today relatively unknown, in Huguet’s day they were highly revered by Catalan farmers. Their story was also included in the most famous medieval collection of biographies of saints, the Golden Legend. Huguet portrays the two martyrs dressed in the style of nobles of his day. The crowns which they wear on top of their fashionable hats indicate their royal rank. In their hands they carry the instruments of their martyrdom. Tall, slender, almost boringly well-proportioned figures, with gentle faces and even features, were one of the painter’s hallmarks.

In a similar fashion to Cologne, Catalonia continued to employ lavish gold grounds far longer than in the Netherlands. In the present example, Huguet has even tooled a tendril pattern into parts of the gilding, while introducing raised relief into the crowns, haloes and decorative details.

The painting belongs to an altarpiece of Sts Michael and Stephen, originally in the church Santa Maria del Pi in Barcelona.

This is the central panel of the retable dedicated to St Augustine. It is originated from the Church of St Augustine in Barcelona.

This altarpiece was commissioned by the corporation of the shoemakers for its chapel in the cathedral of Barcelona. Its emblem, the shoe, can be seen on the frame.

The detail shows Saint George and the Princess.

Huguet was a sensitive painter, the creator of profoundly human types, whose features and expressions produce an unforgettable effect. His figures, serene and grave, their gestures marked by a spiritual elegance, are suffused with a singular idealism. Technically, from the almost miniaturistic scenes of the epiphany in the Museum of Vich to the huge figures of the retable of St. Augustine executed between 1465 and 1480 (Museum, Barcelona), the work of this painter is a development of the formula evolved by Martorell.

The chef d’oeuvre of Huguet’s first period is the altarpiece of St. George, now in the Museum, Barcelona.

The detail shows the head of St George.

The painting is from the Sarri� parish church.

Huguet attempted to distance himself from Spanish painting, which he had studied closely, in order to develop his own style. His Vinzenz Altarpiece in Sarri� shows that he was largely successful in this. Many of the pictorial attributes and details of the architecture recall Flemish models, but the individualistic faces of his figures and the spatial composition of his groups indicate that he was the first Spanish painter to find his own formal concepts - and therefore a “Spanish way” to the Renaissance.