Juan de Borgoña was instrumental in introducing the Renaissance to Castille in Spain, becoming the principal painter of the city of Toledo and enjoying the protection and patronage of Cardinal Cisneros (1436 – 1517) while undertaking work on the cathedral. Apart from the existence of contractual documents, we know relatively little of the Burgundian-born artist’s biography or character. He was almost certainly of Flemish origin, but we do not know anything of his training or travels, nor of a probable period in Italy, nor the reasons that originally drew him to Toledo, where he remained until his death in 1536.

There exists a consensus among Renaissance scholars that the young Juan de Borgoña, judging by his artistic legacy and his understanding of the techniques of fresco painting and the fundamentals of linear perspective, must have spent a formative period working in Italy, probably in Rome (the destination of many of his northern contemporaries), or perhaps in Florence, where he would have seen the frescoes of Domenico Ghirlandaio in the Tornabuoni chapel of Santa Maria Novella. There was an ongoing cultural, commercial and artistic exchange between Flanders and the Italian peninsula, one that developed in parallel with the exchanges between Flanders and the Hispanic territories of Aragon and Castille.

The first documentation of Juan de Borgoña relates to a mural depicting The Visitation, executed for the cloister of the Cathedral of Toledo at the time the painter Pedro Berruguete (c. 1450 – 1503), also a resident of Toledo, was contracted by the same cloister to paint The Annunciation, The Nativity and The Adoration of the Magi. Juan de Borgoña then went on to complete the retable of the Cathedral of Ávila, left incomplete at Berruguete’s death in December 1503, which also features contributions by the artist Santa Cruz. Juan de Borgoña contributed the scenes of The Annunciation, The Nativity, The Presentation in the Temple, The Transfiguration of Christ and The Descent into Limbo.

Under the patronage of Cisneros, Juan de Borgoña also executed work for the oratory and principal stairway of the episcopal palace and for the theatre of the University of Ávila. Between 1508 and 1519, undertook the painting of murals in the chapter house, hallway and Mozárabe chapel that commemorated the conquest of Orán, and the cathedral library, which has not survived.

The huge production of Juan de Borgoña during the first third of the 16th Century can’t be explained without a discussion of his important Toledo workshop, which helped him to win and execute many important commissions. Among his most talented assistants were Juan Correa de Vivar, Antonio de Comontes, Juan de Villoldo, Lorenzo de Ávila and Pedro de Cisneros.

In this unpublished Crucifixion, Juan de Borgoña is responding to artistic melting pot that was Toledo in the early 16th Century. Its obvious high quality is evident in the mountainous landscape, the cloud-filled sky, the imagined view of the walled Jerusalem and the circular temple, and the details of the skull and jawbone in the foreground. It probably formed part of the upper section or the predella of a small altarpiece. The composition is based on the strong axis of the cross with the body of Christ, his eyes closed and lips bruised, his head crowned with a gold nimbus. His belted white drapery, fluttering in the wind, is anticipated by the earlier examples of Martin Schongauer. Drops of blood mark the injuries caused by the nails, the lance, and the crown of thorns.

On either side of the Cross the artist places the mourning figures of the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist, also with gold nimbuses seen on the oblique. Very typical of the artist are the profile of Saint John, with his locks of hair, a book in his left hand, his feet bare. The Virgin, in a white gown, blue cloak and tears on her face crosses her hands across her chest, interlacing her fingers. This work can be compared with another, autograph Crucifixion, of lesser quality, conserved in the Cathedral in Toledo. The two examples share an importance of the gestural, the emphasis on Christ’s suffering and the importance of the landscape within the composition. The figure of Mary Magdalene, kneeling at the foot of the cross, raises her face covered in tears. She wears a belted green dress with a gold border, and resembles the Magdalene in another Crucifixion by Juan de Borgoña and studio now in a private collection.

The work also shares similarities with other accepted works by Juan de Borgoña, including the Descent into Limbo and the Transfiguration from the retable of the Cathedral in Ávila; the Deposition from the parochial church of Pastrana (Guadalajara), the Resurrection from the cloister of San Juan de la Penitencia in Toledo, the Crucifixion with Barnardas given to Juan de Borgoña and studio in a private collection, the Crucifixion of the Retable of the Epiphany in the Cathedral of Toledo, the Crucifixion at the Complutense University of Madrid, and the frescoes of the Annunciation in the Chapter room of the Toledo Cathedral.

We are grateful to José Gómez Frechina for attributing the work to Juan de Borgoña, and for the above catalogue note (Madrid, 23 May 2025).