Of wood (probably pine) with polychrome decoration in tempera, including a bull

Rectangular panel (pine), painted in tempora of a yellow bull with heavily striated ribs and limbs, on a red ground with a golden star placed immeidately above it. Either side of the bull is a white floral scroll, and above and below it are yellow moresques. The picture is framed by a black outer- and a white inner border.

Bought with nine other panels (Museum Nos: 207 to 216 - 1894) from M. Stanislas Baron, Rue Grange-Batelière 28 (Paris) for £0. 8s.
"Panel from a wooden ceiling, painted in black and yellow tempera colours on a red ground with the arms of the city of Teruel in Aragon, a bull with a star above, the spaces on either side are filled in with scrolling stems ending in leaves and flowers. Painted by Moorish artists for the Spaniards. Hispano-Moresque; 15th century."

Historical significance: Ceilings with painted beams and panels are more often associated with Christian Spain, and this included Catalonia, whose coats of arms are emblazoned on No. 216-1894 of this set. Nevertheles, this panel is an interesting example of Middle Eastern influences, particularly noticeable in the scrolls and treatment of the bull. Although somewhat crudely executed, it is a good example of the Islamic style of decoration found in interiors of houses even in the predominantly Christian parts of Spain.

Ceilings in Christian Spain, during the Middle ages, were often supported by large, decoratively painted beams with painted panels like this example recessed between them. Examples include the ceiling over the cloister walk of the Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos, south of Burgos, and the one over the Chapel of Santa Agüeda in Barcelona. Just as complex geometrical ceilings, supported by box-core pendants and inscribed with Arabic calligraphy, were an example of buildings belonging to Moors, those with painted beams and panels were more often owned by Christians.

This panel formed part of a ceiling of a house in Spain, and would originally have been placed in one of the recesses between large supporting beams which spanned the room. Ceilings with painted beams and flat recesses made up of painted panels were more characteristic of Christian than Moorish buildings in the period between 1300 and 1500, but the decoration of this particular panel nevertheless shows signs of Islamic influence, which survived in Spain until well after 1500.

211-1894