Gonçal Peris (Documented in Valencia from 1380 - 1451) "Birth of Saint Louis of Toulouse" Tempera on panel and gold background. 71 x 60 cm. Gonçal Peris is one of the most important figures of Valencian gothic painting in the first half of the 15th century. Trained in Pere Nicolau´s workshop, he soon set up his own workshop, one of his first commissions being the altarpiece of Saint Martha and Saint Clement made in 1412 for the Bishop of Barcelona, Francesc Climent Sapera, for Valencia Cathedral. Other of his works include the altarpiece of Saint Martin, Saint Ursula and Saint Anthony which is kept an the Valencia Museo de Bellas Artes; the altar piece of Saint Barbara, from Puertomingalvo, which is now in the Barcelona MNAC; Saint Dominic and four saints in the Prado; Pietà with Arma Christi at the Louvre etc. As José Gómez Frechina and Francesc Ruiz Quesada indicate in issue nº 14 of the "Retrotabulum" journal, when writing about this painting: "together with two compartments dedicated to Saint Bartholomew, in the former Mateu collection, there was a panel which Saralegui identified with the birth of the virgin Mary, but that, maybe, could have been related to a piece of furniture dedicated to the Bishop Saint Francis. In the painting which we are now commenting on, the mother of the future blessed one appears, crowned and without a halo, which makes her less likely to be recognised as Saint Ann or Saint Isabel, so in consequence, it is thought to be the birth of the Virgin, or of Saint John the Baptist." Bibliography: - SARALEGUI, L. DE "Pere Nicolau II. Sus obras" (Pere Nicolau II, his works) Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones, 1942, p. 112-113. - GÓMEZ FRECHINA, J. and RUIZ QUESADA, F., "Retrotabulum. Estudis d'Art Medieval nº 14 setembre 2014", reproduced on p. 21-22. Provenance: - Former Mateu Collection - Private collection, Barcelona.