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Key information
Altarpiece of Saint Michael
The Altarpiece
Passageway to the Holy Chalice Chapel
The altarpiece is an early work by Vicente Macip. Painted in a late-Gothic style, it perfectly exemplifies the evolution of the Valencian pictorial language.
Although the paintings show the transition to the Renaissance, they have the classic structure of altarpieces from the 14th and 15th centuries. It is interesting to compare this work with the “Baptism of Christ” – in this Cathedral – by his son, the famous painter Juan de Juanes, to see the evolution of Valencian painting in the 16th century.
Description
Divided into three panels, the central panel is covered with a painting of the main character, Saint Michael the Archangel, dressed as a general of the heavenly armies, as such he defeats Satan and defends the souls on Judgment Day after death (“weight of the souls”).
The cornice
The cornice exhibits glorious Christ (Pantocrator) on the top, and on its sides we can find two martyr virgins: Saint Lucy and Saint Catherine; two saint physicians: Cosmas and Damian and – in the dust guards – Saint Sebastian, the Guardian Angel of the Kingdom of Valencia, Saint James the Apostle as a pilgrim and saint Onuphrius, the hermit.
In the upper part, we can see the Coronation of the Virgin Mary Mother of God by the Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The two side panels show scenes of the life of Jesus Christ (from top to bottom and from left to right): the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of Jesus and the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Magi and the Resurrection.
In the predella
In the “predella” are St. Francis of Assisi, the Virgin Mary, Christ in the sepulchre – dead and resurrected – (statue of the Eucharist that is celebrated in front of this statue in the altar), St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist.
It was restored in 1999, but a proof has been left – next to the head of Christ resurrected – that shows how it was damaged in the fire of the Museum in 1936.
Related
Baptism of Christ
