Alonso Berruguete was born in 1486 in Paredes de Navas, Valladolid. He spent most of his life in Paredes de Navas, except from 1504 to 1517 which he spent in Florence and Rome. He went to Florence and Rome to study painting like his father, Pedro Berruguete. While there studying painting he also got to be an apprentice under Michelangelo and is said to have helped Michelangelo with some of his larger projects. After spending these thirteen years in Florence and Rome he returned home when his father died and became court painter for Emperor Charles V. One time he became to ill to travel with the Emperor in 1520 and the Emperor took it personally. After that he disregarded all of Berruguet's future requests for commissions, so Berruguete returned to his home town. He stayed in his home town until 1523 when Emperor Charles V named him a scribe of the criminal section of the Chancery in Valladolid, and because of this position Berruguete gained a new social status and wealth. From there he established an art studio in Valladolid where he hired many apprentices. His work was expensive and priced above all of the other artists in Spain. He soon became very wealthy he built himself a castle in Valladolid. Two years before his death, he became a squire when Princess Juana, the regent of Portugal, gave him a village of 120 inhabitants called Ventosa.
The painting above is by Alonso Berruguete. It is called the Salome and was completed in 1517 by the painter. Today it is kept in Galleria degli Uffizi, which is located in Florence. A very significant feature to this piece is the human head that the women is holding on a tray. Berruguete thought expression was very significant. Most of his paintings and sculptures include people in pain or people suffering in some way. He was one of the first Renaissance artists to this which made it like his own personnel style. What I find interesting about this piece is the women's expression. It is almost as if she cannot fully bring herself to look at the head of the man that is sitting on the tray. The Renaissance "isms" that are in this painting are humanism and naturalism. There is humanism in this painting because the women is showing emotion and does not look like she is perfect, because if she did it would be more like idealism. The is also naturalism because the women looks real. She has a shadows on her face and the fabric and her clothing has creases and textures in them which make them appear more realistic.
Work Cited
"Alonso Berruguete." Encyclopedia of World Biography, Gale, 1998. Global Issues in Context, Accessed 5 Dec. 2016.
Berruguete, Alonso. “Madonna and the Child.” Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy, 1508.
Berruguete, Alonso. “Salome.” Galleria Degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy, 0ADAD.
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