Mater Dolorosa

Paolo da San Leocadio, who was one of the first Italian painters to work permanently in Spain, helping introduce Renaissance techniques to Valencia from 1472, created this work around 1482, now in Madrid's Museo del Prado. This work reflects the artistic culture of Reggio Emilia/Valencia during the Early Renaissance, when painters were forging new approaches to representation through the study of perspective, anatomy, and natural light.

Characteristic Iberian altarpiece technique is evident in the rich gilding, vivid tempera colors, and the iconic frontality of the figures, reflecting the distinctive devotional intensity of Spanish religious painting.