Horseman; Dragon,

late 14th century

Once thought to originate from the Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos, these painted panels likely decorated the ceilings of the Palace of Curiel de Campos in Valladolid, Spain. They depict fantastical confrontations between beasts and men: each encounter is separated by a triangular arched frame made up of elongated white pearls. Above, an elegant rider on a white horse—perhaps a depiction of Saint George—opposes a blue dragon with a curling tail. The ornamentation includes medallions of interlacing blue and red flowers. The panels are some of the many Spanish medieval architectural elements that entered American art collections during the early twentieth century. The newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, for example, installed dozens of Spanish ceilings, including fragments from this palace, in his colossal home in San Simeon, California. While many ceiling panels were embedded into modern buildings and museums, the panels on view here survive as individual fragments that can be appreciated up close.

Cristina Aldrich, PhD Candidate, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University