We need not here pay attention to the few unimportant pictures by
unknown early Spanish masters in the collection, and may pass on to
Luis Morales, called “El Divino” (“The Divine”) (1509-1586), who was
born at Badajoz, and worked at Toledo, when the whole Spanish school
was already addicted to the Italian mannerisms introduced by Berreguete
and other native artists trained in Rome. Morales, however, remained
faithful to the tradition of his own country, and was essentially a
painter of those religious subjects which enabled him to follow the
national bent for the sombre and tragic—the sufferings of Christ and
of the Virgin, and similar themes. The _Christ carrying the Cross_ (No.
1707) is a typical instance of the tragic intensity of his conception.
All the suffering of the Saviour is expressed in His drawn features
and His heavy, swollen eyelids. The picture is not dated, but was
evidently painted before 1564, in which year the master was called to
the Escorial and, while in the service of Philip II., to a great extent
lost his individual style in the imitation of the Italians, that was
probably forced upon him by the taste of his patrons.