Main Altar

Esteban Jordan was a painter and sculptor, perhaps trained first in Italy and then in Berruguete’s workshop. He was a Romanist of the Castilian school, representing the official art patronized by Philip II. In 1571 he began work on the main altarpiece of the church of St Mary Magdalen in Valladolid. The architectural structure of the altarpiece is orderly and well-balanced, and the use of sculpture restrained. This Italianate Mannerist composition, however, suffers from a dryness that indicates a workshop production rather than the creation of a master.