Chaos

Maestro Bartolomé painted this image of Chaos around 1493, likely depicting a scene from the Genesis creation narrative for his Ciudad Rodrigo altarpiece cycle. Old Testament scenes were essential components of large Spanish retablos, providing typological pairings with New Testament episodes. The representation of primordial chaos before creation was an ambitious iconographic subject. This work belongs to the High Renaissance, when the innovations of the preceding century were synthesized into works of monumental clarity and ideal beauty.

Oil on panel with inventive treatment of the formless void before creation. The unusual subject demanded creative visual solutions from the painter, working within Hispano-Flemish conventions.