Artwork produced in Girona during the 16thcentury is mostly painted by foreign artists who incorporated Renaissance elements into the Flemish Gothic style. We can find a clear example of this fact in the San Félix de Girona retable, initiated in 1504 and completed in 1520. Painters like Perris de Fontaines (from France) and Joan de Borgonya (originally from Germany) participated in their production, contributing new forms of representation, in line with the most advanced trends of the time. Other examples of this tendency are the retable Madonna with Child and Angel, attributed to the Flemish painter, Jan Massys, and Saint Ursula’s Panel, by Joan de Borgonya, mentioned above.
Regarding prints and engravings, they helped to disseminate new models of representation that would soon be reflected in Catalan painting. It was under the influence of these new forms of expression that Pere Mates developed his artistic career. Hailing from Girona, he was one of the most illustrious and prolific painters of his time. Several of his retables that came mostly from parish churches in the diocese form part of the most substantial collections of the artist’s work preserved in Catalonia. In addition to his pictorial work, the collection is made up of other elements, particularly sculptures such as Charles V’s votive offering, an exquisite mixed technique piece which combines woodcarving and craftsmanship in precious metals.
