BERMEJO, BARTOLOMÉ

(c. 1405-1498)

   Spanish painter from Cordoba who may have trained in Flanders, as suggested by the fact that his works can be linked to those of Petrus Christus and Hans Memlinc. Some have suggested that instead Bermejo's training took place in Portugal in the workshop of Nuno Gonçalves, the leading master of that region in the 15th century whose work betrays an awareness of Flemish art. Bermejo was in Aragon from 1474 to 1477 where he painted his St. Michael (1474-1477; Luton Hoo, Wernher Collection), a work signed and dated that closely resembles Flemish versions of the same subject, especially in the angular drapery folds. In 1486, the artist was in Barcelona collaborating with Jaime Huguet on paintings for Santa María del Mar and, in 1490, he created his famed Pietà for the Cathedral of Barcelona, a work commissioned by Canon Luis Desplá as part of his funerary monument. In 1495, Bermejo also designed stained glass windows for the cathedral.