CATHEDRAL, Bermejo's Pieta'

The so-called Pietà Desplá is the most significant work of art that you can admire in the Cathedral Museum: this great altar panel is named after the Cathedral Archdeacon Lluis Desplá, the canonical scholar who commissioned the work from Bartolomé Bermejo, the most important Spanish artist of the 1400s.

Look at this dramatic scene set against the backdrop of a vast landscape: the Madonna is racked with grief, and holds the body of her dead son on her lap. To the Virgin's right is Saint Jerome, dressed as a cardinal and immersed in his readings, even wearing glasses on his nose. Curled up at his feet is a slumbering lion: according to tradition the Saint had removed a thorn from its paw. On the Virgin's left, you can see the kneeling archdeacon. He is depicted with a wistful glance lost in meditation, which is clearly a reference to his normal demeanor, and conveys a sense of his profound participation in the drama.

The entire work emits a great sense of sadness, which is emphasized by the scenery: above Jesus' head a dark and rough sky is thickening with clouds that announce an upcoming thunderstorm, which are opposing the increasing brightness of dawn, with a flock of startled birds heading into it. The painting's left side also includes a reference to the earthquake that occurred with Jesus' death, depicted by a cliff collapsed behind a hermit's cave....