Scene from the life of saint bernard of clairvaux that recounts the appearance of the virgin mary to the saint and the miraculous milk he received from her breasts in gratitude for his marian devotion. Next to the cistercian monk appear the identifying symbols that usually accompany him, his abbot's crosier, the bishop's miter that he rejected and books, alluding to the writings he dedicated to mary. This work was once the central panel of one of the altarpieces of the monastery of san martín de valdeiglesias, madrid. The apparition of the virgin to san bernardo recovers a version of the altarpiece of san antonio abad and san bernardo, made by antonio comontes for the parish of san andrés in toledo. In this panel by correa, the scene takes place in an exterior of pleasant vegetation and notable renaissance architecture, an architecture that differs, both with regard to the temple in the background and the low wall that closes the foreground, from that which appears in comontes' version, simpler and more characteristic of the toledo area. In correa's painting, a kind of altar has also been represented where an abbey miter and two books rest, which may allude to one of those dedicated by the saint to the virginity of mary, perhaps de laudibus virginis. The fervent marianist devotion of saint bernard was rewarded precisely with this celestial appearance in which the miracle of breastfeeding also occurred: the virgin allowed the saint to taste a few drops of the milk with which she breastfed the child jesus. The entire work has been done with a very refined color, especially in the head of the saint, with a rigorous profile and conceived with a precise drawing and a delicate pictorial treatment. It displays the image that has been had of this saint since the middle ages, as that of a man with beautiful and soft features (text extracted from ruiz, leticia: juan correa de vivar, c. 1510-1566. Master of the spanish renaissance, 2010). Object Type: painting. Genre: religious art. Date: between circa 1540 and circa 1545. Dimensions: height: 170 cm (66.9 in); width: 130 cm (51.1 in). Medium: oil on panel. Collection: Museo del Prado. Aparición de la Virgen a San Bernardo, por Juan Correa de Vivar
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