The character has been identified as saint clement, pope and martyr of the 1st century (92-101), of jewish origin, who was converted to christianity by saint peter and who, according to tradition, suffered martyrdom by being thrown into the black sea with an anchor around his neck. The spread of his cult is due to the saints cyril and methodius, who in the year 867 transferred his remains to rome. He is always represented as a pontifical, as in this work, in which he wears a red alb, stole and raincoat with a green lining with a border and a jeweled brooch, which he crosses in front and holds under his arm. He is haloed with a thin circular halo and covers his head with the triple-crown papal tiara, from which the infulas hang. On his gloved hands he wears two rings of gold and rubies; he blesses with his right and carries on his left a triple-crossed patriarchal cross. On this occasion he is not accompanied by any of his characteristic attributes, with which he usually appears from the middle ages onwards, which are the anchor, a symbol of martyrdom, a chapel surrounded by water, in memory of the one the angels built for him at the bottom of the sea, and an agnus dei, in reference to one of his miracles. The saint is effigy standing, in a frontal position, on an earthy ground. In the background you can see a mountainous landscape with a city of classic buildings with a circular and polygonal plan, in the painter's usual manner. The composition ends in a semicircle; the spandrels are not decorated and were originally covered. The figure is endowed with a certain sculptural character. His marked frontality is compensated by the soft movement of the body and the folds of his clothing, by the diagonal arrangement of his arms, in line with the crossed stole, and by the slight lateral deviation of his gaze (text extracted from cortes hernández, s.;ocaña rodríguez, e. In: juan correa de vivar, c. 1510-1566. Master of the spanish renaissance, 2010). Object Type: painting. Genre: religious art. Date: between 1540 and 1545. Dimensions: height: 93 cm (36.6 in) ; width: 40 cm (15.7 in). Medium: oil on panel. Collection: Museo del Prado. San Clemente, Papa, por Juan Correa de Vivar
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