Introduzione

Juan de Borgoña, or his ancestors, probably originated in Burgundy. However, after a visit to Italy, he moved onto Spain, settling in Toledo in 1495 with a well developed early Renaissance style. His pictures were popular for their vivid colours and skilful depiction of costume. The gold and silver that was imported into Spain, from the newly discovered Americas, made the country one of the wealthiest powers in the world during the 16th century. The tooled gold backgrounds in these works are characteristic of Castilian painting from this period. Together with St Jerome and St Ambrose, St Augustine and St Gregory were celebrated as the Fathers of the Church and were often represented in the wings of altarpieces. These paintings once belonged to Alejandro Mon who was the Spanish Ambassador in Paris for a number of years during the 1850s and 1860s. He was a close friend of the Conde de Quinto from whose collection John and Joséphine acquired these paintings in 1862.