Jaume Huguet - Consecration of Saint Augustine - Google Art Project

Jaume Huguet (; 1412–1492) was a Catalan painter. Originally from

Valls Valls () is a city and municipality in the province of Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain. According to the 2014 census it has a population of 24,570. Valls is known for its calçots – a type of scallion or green onion – and the human towers tradi ...

, he moved to

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

to stay with his uncle Pere Huguet, who was also a painter. When they moved to Barcelona he was exposed to modern trends of the time. Between 1440 and 1445 he worked in Zaragoza and later in Tarragona, where he was influenced by the Flemish style of Luis Dalmau. A retablo from Huguet is in the

Monastery of Pedralbes The Monastery of Pedralbes is a Gothic monastery in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is now a museum, housing permanent exhibitions on its own art and legacy as well as third-party special exhibitions from time to time. The Chapel of St. Michael w ...

, while another, depicting the ''Adoration of the Magi'' (or ''Epiphany'') is housed in the Chapel of St. Agatha in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Palau Reial Major The Palau Reial Major (; "Grand Royal Palace") is a complex of historic buildings located in Plaça del Rei, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was a residence of the counts of Barcelona and kings of Aragon. It is composed of three distinct edifices: ...

. A number of works by Huguet, including The Consecration of Saint Augustine, are held in the collection of the

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (, English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is a museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina Ma ...

in Barcelona, Spain.

Biography

Jaume Huguet was born about 1412 in Valls and orphaned in 1419. His father, Antoni Huguet, appointed in his will that Jaume and his brother, also named Antoni, were to be under the guardianship of Pere Huguet, the boys' uncle, and Pere Padrol. Pere Huguet was a painter and became Jaume's tutor. Jaume's beginnings by his uncle's side most likely took place at Mateu Ortenada's workshop. Following an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

, he would have completed his training at the workship of a recognized painter, although it is unknown with whom. While it is presumed that Huguet was actively painting in his youth, there are no documents to support this until 1448, when he gave his brother, Antoni, the legal power to accept payment for him and the instructions to cancel a job painting an altarpiece for the town of

Arbeca Arbeca is a village in the comarca of Les Garrigues, in the province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain. It is the third village of Les Garrigues in number of inhabitants, close to Les Borges Blanques and Juneda. The population is about 2,500 and th ...

in Tarragona. It was also in 1448 when Huguet moved his workshop to Barcelona. The first documented piece that Huguet was commissioned to paint was the high altarpiece of the Church of Sant Antoni Abat in Barcelona in 1454. Unfortunately, this piece was destroyed in 1909. In 1455 he was contracted to paint two compartments from the

predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...

of the high altarpiece of the Church of

Ripoll Monastery The Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll is a Benedictine monastery, built in the Romanesque style, located in the town of Ripoll in Catalonia, Spain. Although much of the present church is 19th century rebuilding, the sculptured portico is a renown ...

as well as altarpiece of Saint Abdon and Saint Senan from the Church of Sant Pere in

Terrassa Terrassa (, es, Tarrasa) is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona, ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ' ...

, which was completed in 1460. Huguet became a highly sought after artist and was commissioned by the Crown of Catalonia and Aragon to paint the Epiphany Altarpiece from the high altar of the Chapel of the

in Barcelona, which he worked on in 1464 and 1465. He also painted the central panel from the altarpiece of the Chapel of the

Esparto Esparto, halfah grass, or esparto grass is a fiber produced from two species of perennial grasses of north Africa, Spain and Portugal. It is used for crafts, such as cords, basketry, and espadrilles. ''Stipa tenacissima'' and ''Lygeum spartum ...

Workers' and the Glazier's Guild in Barcelona Cathedral, which he finished in 1468. In 1465, Huguet was contracted to paint the altarpiece of Saint Anne, Saint Bartholomew and Saint Mary Magdalene, which was not completed until 1480. Because the work took so long to complete, it indicates that the creation was part of a group effort.Gothic Art Guide

Notes

Sources

* *MNAC (2000). ''Gothic Art Guide''.

External links

http://art.mnac.cat/fitxatecnica.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huguet, Jaume 1412 births 1492 deaths People from Valls Painters from Catalonia Medieval Catalan artists 15th-century Catalan people