RELIEF OF THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS

HISTORY 

No information has been found regarding either the source of manufacture of this work or its possible original destination. An entry in the Salamanca Monumental Catalogue compiled between 1901 and 1903 contained a reference by Manuel Gómez Moreno already indicating that the altarpiece had been imported and that it was: "peculiar to the Flemish style of the beginning of the XVI century", but making no mention of the altarpiece's location in the church.

Though it is currently exhibited on a ledge above the entrance to the sacristy on the Gospel side of the presbytery, Professor Ara Gil suggests the relief used to stand on the left wall of the side chapel next to the head of the church until fairly recently and, before that, had stood in a niche in the altarpiece's attic presided over by a Late Gothic style Pietá, work of another craftsman. The Baroque polychrome decoration of flowers and branches covering the relief was probably applied to make it blend in more harmoniously with its new location since, judging by the Salomonic columns and the lush vegetation motifs covering the altarpiece, its style dates from the same period.