Andrés Marzal de Sax o de Sas
Painter of Germanic origin, active in Valencia and documented between 1393 and 1410.His artistic personality has been reconstructed from the table of The incredulity of Santo Tomás (Valencia Cathedral).His style, a version of the international Gothic style, is characterized by the great inventiveness and the expressionist vigor in the description of the characters, typical of the miniature and the mural painting of the Netherlands and northern France.
The hypothesis of the Germanic origin of Andrés Marzal de Sax is based on the fact that a document from 1396 refers to him as el pinctor alamany , a nickname that he later replaced by that of Maestro Marzal.Despite the fact that it is deduced that he was the most important painter of his time in Valencia, a document from 1410 attests to the help and pension that the City Council granted him due to his situation of poverty, claiming appreciation for the good services of the painter in artistic matters.
Detail of the Altarpiece of the Centenar de la Ploma (c.1400), by Andrés Marzal de Sas
It is known that he settled in Valencia around 1390 and that he resided in the city at least between 1393 and 1410.His Germanic character brought him closer to other contemporary masters from Cologne, Westphalia and Bohemia; In Spain, on the other hand, artists such as Bernat Martorell, Pere Nicolau and Jaume Mateu were working at this time.Precisely Pere Nicolau, with whom he collaborated on some occasion, alternated admiration and rivalry with the teacher.
In the table of The incredulity of Santo Tomás (Valencia Cathedral) the most characteristic features of his style are appreciated, keys to recognizing his personality: expressive elements prevail, large, lively hands, faces reminiscent of wood carvings, and the folds of conch-shaped dresses.Another of the outstanding works of his production is the great Altarpiece of the Centenar de la Ploma , preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.Unparalleled work at the time, its more than thirty panels represent the victory in the Battle of Puig de Santa Maria (1237), with Jaime I the Conqueror and Saint George as main characters.Andrés Marzal de Sax's painting contributed a personal version of international Gothic that was decisive not only in the Valencian pictorial scene, but also in different foci of Catalonia and Aragon.
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