Bartolomé Bermejo

His documented career began in Valencia in 1468 with 'Saint Michael Triumphs over the Devil,' commissioned by the local nobleman Antonio Juan.¹

He was a peripatetic artist who never settled in one place for more than a decade, moving between Valencia, Daroca, Zaragoza, and Barcelona throughout his career.¹

Due to guild restrictions and his peripatetic nature, he often collaborated with local painters like Martín Bernat, typically painting the central panels while others finished the rest.¹

Despite his talent, he was professionally unreliable; a contract in Daroca even threatened him with excommunication, which was briefly carried out when he left a work unfinished in 1477.¹

While working in Zaragoza, he demanded a private workspace so no one could observe him, a rare request for the time, and received higher pay than his peers for his superior skills.¹

Completed in 1490, the 'Desplà Pietà' is considered his masterpiece, painted for Canon Lluís Desplà and featuring a donor portrait with meticulous natural details.¹