Córdoba Cathedral Chapter acquires original Antonio Palomino sketches

The Córdoba Cathedral Chapter has acquired two original preparatory sketches by the renowned Cordoban painter Antonio Palomino (1655–1726). The purchase, finalized on March 20 at Alcalá Subastas in Madrid for 51,422.24 euros, includes two grisaille canvases measuring 72.5 x 41 centimeters each.

These sketches served as models for two major works currently housed in the Santa Teresa Chapel of the Mezquita-Catedral: ‘The Surrender of Córdoba to Ferdinand III’ and ‘The Appearance of Saint Raphael to the Venerable Roelas’. The definitive large-scale canvases, signed in 1713, measure approximately 4.98 by 2.86 meters.

Art historians noted that the attribution of these sketches was historically complex. They were erroneously attributed to Juan Martín Cabezalero in 1926 and later exhibited in Buenos Aires as works by Juan Carreño in 1966. It was not until 1972 that expert A. E. Pérez Sánchez correctly identified them as Palomino’s original preparatory works.