Bartolomé Bermejo life and biography

Bartolomé Bermejo(c. 1440 - c. 1498), whose real name was Bartolomé de Cárdenas, born in Córdoba was a Spanish painter who adopted Flemish painting techniques and conventions.

He is first documented in a receipt issued in Valencia in 1468 when a patron, Antonio Juan, commissioned him to paint the altarpiece of the church of San Miguel in Tous, in Valencia (the central panel of which is currently housed in the National Gallery, London). He was last documented in the last decade of the fifteenth century and may have therefore died at Barcelona around this time.

He was active in Valencia (1468), Aragon (1474–85), and Barcelona (from 1486). Bermejo's earliest masterpiece is the panel painting Santo Domingo de Silos (1474). His Pietà (1490) in Barcelona Cathedral is considered a masterpiece of early Spanish oil painting; the influence of Rogier van der Weyden can be seen in the rich detail and colour. Bermejo cultivated the Flemish style and was considered the most outstanding painter in Spain before El Greco.

Works

* Central panel from the Saint Michael Triumphs over the Devil (c. 1468), National Gallery, London
* Central panel from the Altarpiece of St. Dominique de Silos (1474-1477), Museo del Prado, Madrid (central panel)
* Altarpiece of St. Engracia (v. 1476), collegiate church, Daroca, Spain (Crucifixion)
* Altarpiece of the Virgin of Montserrat (v. 1485), Acqui Cathedral, Italy
* Pietà (1490), Barcelona Cathedral

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