Specific Objectives

Aimed at scientific, technical, and international impact, our objectives are:

• To implement technological change through the use and dissemination of the most up-to-date and innovative practical procedures for the scientific and analytical study of pictorial heritage.

• To foster collaboration among institutions of diverse scientific backgrounds and at the highest level in the study of historical and artistic heritage.

We also propose a causal and reasoned study of the development of Late Gothic painting through several framework themes:

• Analysis of the Household and Court as an administrative structure that brought together the main artists, intellectuals, and collaborators of the dynasty or noble family, who supported and responded with their work to the main objectives and interests of their lords.

• The pathways through which Flemish tastes penetrated and developed in the evolution of Spanish painting in the late medieval period through the circulation of works and masters, the creation of prototypes, the use of copies with variations, the exchange of pieces according to the sign theory of the time, and the networks of the art market. The portrait's aim to showcase the sitter's charisma, and its close connection to the idea of ​​legitimacy (religious, political, or social), will be presented as an example, both for outlining the guidelines established by royalty (Isabella I of Castile) and their emulation by the nobility (the Mendoza lineage).

• It is worth exploring the various plausible meanings of the term 'portrait': both its direct representation through truthful physiognomies, individual and/or collective (the idea of ​​lineage), and its disguised image through the crypto-portrait, which inserts characters and proper names into primarily biblical narratives. These associations are unusual from our contemporary perspective, but logical within the context of the time. And we must not forget the recently termed architectural portraits, conceived as images of territories, countries, or cities. Therefore, one of our objectives is to analyze these cultural landscapes, their creative process, their representational mode, and their semantic reading linked to the political theory of the time, which identifies the ruler with their country.

• To outline the relationships and mutual influence between foreign artists (predominant in the royal court) and local masters (predominant in noble courts). This is a key aspect of our project because this collaboration situates us within the parameters of artistic transfer and the communicative links between northern and southern Europe.

• To analyze the externalization of the concepts of legitimacy, charisma, and prestige through the collection of works by renowned artists, the predilection for foreign artists, or the reproduction of these models by local artists based on a set of circumstances yet to be fully understood. This seems to respond to aesthetic taste, a sign of status/charisma, and a mark of collection and legitimacy, which is forcing a visual reformulation and identification of certain works. To complement the technical and other more specifically visual work in order to scientifically objectify the results obtained.