Ayne Bru
Encyclopedia
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
of Hans Brün) was a 16th century Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
painter of German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
origin who worked in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
. He may have proceeded from Lummen
Lummen
Lummen is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. On January 1, 2006 Lummen had a total population of 13,691. The total area is 53.38 km² which gives a population density of 256 inhabitants per km²....
, in the Duchy of Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
. He is sometimes also called Lucius de Brun. His surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
may also suggest provenance from the town of Brünn
Brunn
Brunn or Brünn may refer to:Places* Brünn, the German form of the Czech city Brno* Brunn, Upper Palatinate, a town in Bavaria, Germany* Brunn, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany...
.
In 1502, he was hired to paint the main altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
(retablo
Retablo
A Retablo or lamina is a Latin American devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art....
) in the church of the monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès
Sant Cugat del Vallès
Sant Cugat del Vallès is a town and municipality north of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. In antiquity known as Castrum Octavianum, it is named after Saint Cucuphas, who is said to have been martyred on the spot now occupied by its medieval monastery.Sant Cugat has seen its population increase in...
, for which he was paid a staggering wage between 1504 and 1507.
On the central panel, Bru depicted the martyrdom of Saint Cucuphas (in Catalan, Sant Cugat) with enormous realism
Realism (visual arts)
Realism in the visual arts is a style that depicts the actuality of what the eyes can see. The term is used in different senses in art history; it may mean the same as illusionism, the representation of subjects with visual mimesis or verisimilitude, or may mean an emphasis on the actuality of...
. The executioner cuts the saint's throat while Cucuphas remains tied to a tree trunk
Tree Trunk
"Tree Trunk" is a song recorded and released in 1972 by The Doors."Tree Trunk" was recorded by the surviving members of The Doors as they assembled material for their second and final album, Full Circle, following the death of Jim Morrison...
. Nearby, there appear another knife (in a basket) and a dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
sleeping peacefully. This work is now at the National Art Museum of Catalonia (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya).
The dog from Bru's painting of Cucuphas' martyrdom was later borrowed by Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
for a painting called "Dalí Contemplating Nude" or "Dalí Dalí Dalí".
The vast countryside that serves as a background anachronistically
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
includes the actual monastery of Sant Cugat. Another panel, depicting Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
(sometimes identified as Saint Candidus
Saint Candidus
Saint Candidus was, according to legend, a commander of the Theban Legion. The Golden Legend states: "And the noble man, Maurice, was duke of this holy legion; and they that governed under him, which bare the banners, were named Saint Candidus, Saint Innocent, Saint Exsuperius, Saint Victor, and...
or simply as "Warrior Saint"), was attached to this one. It has been rejoined and is visible at the National Art Museum of Catalonia.
Marcel Durliat believes that though the expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
in this painting is evidence of a Germanic artistic tradition, Bru's Quattrocento
Quattrocento
The cultural and artistic events of 15th century Italy are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento...
depiction of the standing figures in contemporary dress, as well as other details, indicate that the painter may have lived or studied in Northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
before moving to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
.