The Perpetual Help publishing house and bookstore in Madrid continues with the momentum of its Huerto Cerrado cycle , which began last year. On November 14, the conference “Crist Crucified, by Luis Tristán” was held.
Following the previous lectures in this series, led by figures such as Pablo D’Ors and Eduardo Barba, we received the visit of Luis Alberto Pérez Velarde. Professor Pérez Velarde holds a PhD in Art History from the Complutense University of Madrid and belongs to the Facultative Body of Museum Curators of the Spanish State, working in the Collections Department of the Sorolla Museum.
D. Luis Alberto’s passion for painting already put him in contact with spirituality, as happened when he was curator of the exhibition “Sorolla: torment and devotion.”
Within this dialogue between faith and culture we come across a work and an author, we are talking about the Crucified Christ by the painter Luis Tristán , which is located in the chapel of the Redemptorist community of Perpetual Help in Madrid.
This exceptional painting clearly unites the two axioms that underpin this series of conferences: faith and culture. Generations of Redemptorists have prayed in front of the painting of Christ Crucified, as continues to happen every day in the community chapel.
This year marks the fourth centenary of the death of Luis Tristán, at that time the best disciple of El Greco , one of the pinnacles of Spanish painting and of the entire History of Art. This fascinating author, Luis Tristán, has an impressive artistic production that is spread across a large part of Spain and that, due to its value, also reached major international galleries such as the Louvre Museum. These types of initiatives help to put Luis Tristán in his place, an excellent author, although eclipsed by his teacher for a long time.
In his speech to a packed room of enthralled audience, Dr. Pérez Valverde went through the life and work of Luis Tristán in order to place the Redemptorists’ Christ Crucified within the painter’s extensive production. Golden names from our history came out, such as El Greco, Michelangelo, Philip II, etc. We are talking about a privileged time in faith and art, such as the imperial city of Toledo in the 16th and 17th centuries, from whose splendor we received wonders such as this painting.
Can we be sure that the Christ of the Redemptorists is by Tristán? According to Professor Pérez Velarde, yes, with all certainty. Anyone with a minimum of artistic sensitivity can identify the extraordinary similarity between the painting in question and the rest of the documented works by Luis Tristán. His face, his arms, the play of his hips, his prodigious figure, the sinuosity of his forms, everything points to Tristán. Apart from the references to a work like this in different catalogues from past centuries.
Professor Pérez Velarde is the curator of the Luis Tristán exhibition that can be visited in Yepes (Toledo) until December 1. Most of Tristán’s work is concentrated in this Toledo town and what better way to pay tribute to him than there, with an exhibition that brings together works by Tristán from diverse origins. Many of them are not normally visible, such as those belonging to the Archbishop’s Palace of Toledo that Monsignor Francisco Cerro has very kindly lent for the occasion.
With all these ingredients, it was to be expected that the afternoon would be a success at the Editorial and book store of Perpetual Help, which concluded with a visit to the chapel of the Redemptorist community where we were able to contemplate the Crucified Christ by Luis Tristán. It was a privilege to be able to fall in love with the work with the conference and then have it in front of us. Clearly, an unbeatable experience.
We would like to express our gratitude for the kindness of Dr. Luis Alberto Pérez Velarde who gave us an exquisite lecture, and we value the generosity of the Redemptorist community who opened the doors of their home to all the participants, always in favor of evangelization and culture.
The conference can be heard in full on the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/live/DOeMSuDgnH4?feature=shared
Pablo Izquierdo Mendoza
