page_title: Pedro Berruguete
section_title: First stage
hierarchical_section_title: Pedro Berruguete / Work / First stage
caption_attribution_description: Ptolemy with a armillary sphere model. With a large version he claimed his solstice observations.
context_page_description: Pedro Berruguete was a Spanish painter; his art is regarded as a transitional style in Spain between gothic and Renaissance. Berruguete most famously created paintings of the first few years of the Inquisition and of religious imagery for Castilian retablos. He is considered by some as the first Renaissance painter in Spain. He was the father of sculptor Alonso Berruguete, considered the most important sculptor in Renaissance Spain. Because of the fame accrued by Alonso, Pedro Berruguete is sometimes referred to as Berruguete el Viejo to differentiate between the two.
  It is speculated that he travelled to Italy in 1480 and worked in Federico III da Montefeltro's court in Urbino, where he could have seen some works by Melozzo da Forlì. The Portrait of Federico da Montefeltro with His Son Guidobaldo, now at the Galleria nazionale delle Marche, has been attributed to him by some art historians but the Flemish painter Justus van Gent working in Urbino at that time is another strong candidate for the authorship of this work.
  He returned to Spain in 1482 and painted in several cities, such as Toledo and Ávila.
context_section_description: Works from his first stage (between 1470 and 1471) include Verification of the cross of Christ in the Church of San Juan of Paredes de Nava and the Adoration of the Magi in the Alvarez Fisa collection. Because his earlier works are lacking documentation, the dates are estimated by his later shift in style. This short introductory phase of his is due to his young age during this time and possibly his suspected trip to Italy.
  The panels for the Verification of the Cross of Christ depict 2 scenes from the story of the True Cross and 4 images of the Evangelists. The Adoration of the Magi is considered to be one of his oldest works.
  These early paintings have figures that are much more simplified than the realistic and detailed figures of his later stages. His signature use of brocade designs, gilding and the use of architectural spaces within painting are present, but the recession of space and use of perspective looks awkward and his figures look less realistic than the figures in his third stage after he refines his style.
caption: Ptolemy with an armillary sphere model, by Joos van Ghent and Pedro Berruguete, 1476, Louvre, Paris
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