Friar Nicolás Borrás (1530–1610) was a
Spanish Renaissance
The Spanish Renaissance was a movement in Spain, emerging from the Italian Renaissance in Italy during the 14th century, that spread to Spain during the 15th and 16th centuries.
This new focus in art, literature,
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Catholic monk and painter, active in
Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
.
Biography
Borrás was born in
Cocentaina
Cocentaina (; ) is a locality and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian Community, comarca of Comtat, in the province of Alicante (province), Alicante, Spain. The village is located between the mountainous Serra d ...
(
Kingdom of Valencia
The Kingdom of Valencia (; ; ), located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon.
The Kingdom of Valencia was formally created in 1238 when the Moorish taifa of Valencia was taken in ...
), nowadays in the
Province of Alicante
Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: / ) is a province located in eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province, containing the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Co ...
. He is one of the best artists of Valencian monastic painting. Going to
Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
at an early age to study under
Vicente Juan Macip, he became the latter's most noteworthy pupil. Borrás's works generally resemble those of Macip and some of them have been taken for his.
Upon entering the priesthood, Borrás was assigned to the
Hieronymite
The Hieronymites or Jeronimites, also formally known as the Order of Saint Jerome (; abbreviated OSH), is a Catholic cloistered religious order and a common name for several congregations of hermit monks living according to the Rule of Saint ...
Monastery of Saint Jerome of Cotalba in
Gandia
Gandia (, ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa de Valencia, south of Valencia, Spain, Valencia and north of Alicante. Vehicles can ...
, where he painted the greater altarpiece of the church. Borrás enjoyed his stay so much that he asked for membership in the order has his only payment.
"El arte de la Orden Jerónima: historia y mecenazgo". Authors: Isabel Mateo Gómez, Amelia López-Yarto, José María Prados García. Encuentro, 2000
. He received the habit in 1575, and took the final vows the following year.
Three years later, Borrás spent some time with the Capuchins
Capuchin can refer to:
*Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars
*Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters
*Capuchin monkey, primates of the genus ''Cebus'' and ''Sapajus'', named af ...
at the Franciscan monastery of San Juan de Ribera, near Valencia. He was soon back, however, at Cotalba, where he passed the rest of his life.
Works
The altarpiece Borrás painted in Cotalba consisted in fourteen tables. There was a sculpture of Saint Jerome
Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian priest, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome.
He is best known for his translation of the Bible ...
in the middle. In addition, he made other altarpieces for the chapels of the church and the chapterhouse. Also he produced paintings for different parts of the monastery. He painted four great linens for the stations of the low cloister. However, the only work conserved in its original place was ''The Saint Supper'' painted in fresco. It is placed in what nowadays is known as the oil mill, that originally was the dining hall (refectory).
Borrás painted twelve altar pieces in the Monastery of Saint Jerome, as well as hiring sculptors and builders for its embellishment.
Borrás also did much work for churches and religious houses in Valencia, Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, and elsewhere. His paintings appeared in Saint Mary of Valencia Cathedral and at the Hieronymite monastery in the city of San Miguel de los Reyes where there was a "Christ at the Column", and a picture of the painter in adoration of "The Holy Virgin". Others were in the church of St. Stephen in Gandia, in the Escorial in Aldaia
Aldaia (; ) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Horta Oest, province of Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain.
Local politics
Aldaia is located in l' Horta, an area known as the ''red belt'' () due to its tendency to vote for left wing par ...
, and in Ontinyent
Ontinyent is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Vall d'Albaida, Valencian Community, Spain. It is situated on the banks of the Clariano River, a tributary of the Xúquer, and on the Xàtiva–Alcoi railway. Ontinyent is near the Sierra d ...
. In the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia there are some fifty paintings by Borrás chiefly from Gandia and San Miguel. Among them are ''The Last Supper'', ''Christ Bearing His Cross'', ''The Dead Saviour in the Arms of the Eternal Father'', and ''The Archangel Michael Driving Souls into Purgatory and Hell''. In the last Borrás is supposed to have pictured himself as a white-robed monk kneeling on the brink. He died, aged about 80, in the Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba
The Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba (; , "Saint Jerome of Cotalba") is a monastic building of Valencian Gothic, Mudéjar, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical styles constructed between the 14th and 18th centuries, located in the ...
, near Gandia
Gandia (, ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa de Valencia, south of Valencia, Spain, Valencia and north of Alicante. Vehicles can ...
.
See also
* Monastery of Saint Jerome of Cotalba
*Hieronymites
The Hieronymites or Jeronimites, also formally known as the Order of Saint Jerome (; abbreviated OSH), is a Catholic enclosed religious orders, cloistered religious order and a common name for several congregations of hermit monks living accordi ...
Notes
Bibliography
*Benito Domenech, Fernando, ''Los Ribalta y la pintura valenciana de su tiempo'', Valencia-Madrid, 1987, p. 34-43.
*Benito Domenech, Fernando, ed. ''Cinco siglos de pintura valenciana'' (''Five Centuries of Valencian Paintings''), Obras del Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia, Madrid, Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia-Fundación Central Hispano, 1996,
*Various authors, ''Nicolás Borrás Falcó'', Ayuntamiento de Cocentaina (Alicante), 2010, 187 pages
* Mateo Gómez, Isabel, López-Yarto, Amelia y Prados García, José María
El arte de la Orden Jerónima: historia y mecenazgo
Madrid, Encuentro, 2000, .
External links
The paintings of Nicolás Borrás in the Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba
Files of Nicolás Borrás at the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia
*}
Valencia Art exhibit
*Gerard William Smith (1884), ''Painting, Spanish and French'', Sampson and Low publishers, editors EJ Poynter and Roger Smith, page 37.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borras, Nicolas
1530 births
1610 deaths
People from Cocentaina
Painters from the Valencian Community
Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba
16th-century Spanish painters
Spanish male painters
17th-century Spanish painters