JUAN DEL CASTILLO (likely) (Seville, c. 1584-1640)
Carta Ejecutoria de hidalguía (for Diego Maldonado), Illuminated manuscript on parchment [Spain, Granada and Seville, c. 1604–1605]

Its relatively early date, unusually extensive illumination, and especially the signature of the artist (they are rarely attributed to specific painters) sets this Carta Ejecutoria apart from the majority of its genre.

i (vellum) + 63 + i (vellum) leaves, foliated in a modern hand in pencil 1–63, with a blank insert separating ff. 56–57, [collation: i², ii², iii¹², iv¹², v¹⁰, vi⁸, vii⁸, viii², ix²+², x⁴+¹], ruled in red ink in a single column of 34 lines (justification: 239 mm × 130 mm), with notarial marks along the lower frame throughout, written in brown ink in a clerical rotunda script with calligraphic flourishes extending into the margins, rubrics of 3–5 lines, 3 maniculae, SIXTEEN DECORATED INITIALS of 6–11 lines, painted in gold on blue and red grounds enriched with gold foliate ornament and enclosed within simple blue and gold frames, TWO HISTORIATED INITIALS of eleven and twelve lines in gold on blue and red grounds with stylized gold foliate ornament enclosing portrait figures, ONE HALF-PAGE INCIPIT PANEL in gold and black inks on blue and gold grounds with gold foliate patterns, two with red infill, the uppermost panel embellished with floral arrangements, FIVE FULL-PAGE MINIATURES with panel borders decorated with acanthus foliage, lilac sprays, and amphorae, the final incorporating military insignia, ONE FULL-PAGE ARMORIAL PLATE with heraldic devices offset by flowing acanthus in blue and lilac, surmounted by a knight in silver armor, ONE DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD with genealogical tree painted on gold ground, with curling branches extending across the gutter, each bearing portrait roundels, many left blank, with one matriarch only partially finished. Rebound by Bill Helpin in 1982 in a square-format red morocco binding, the covers richly gilt-tooled, boards framed within a wide outer border of dense foliate scrollwork incorporating vine and tendril motifs with small rosette and berry tools, enclosed within a gilt fillet, spine gilt in compartments with raised bands, housed in a custom slipcase of cloth-covered boards, some fading to the text, particularly in the rubrics, minor staining and soiling to the margins, the lower right corner affected by a water stain on the first twelve and final fifteen folios, otherwise in good condition. Dimensions 305 mm × 210 mm.

Provenance
(1) Diego Maldonado, a member of the Castilian nobility, is identified here as the Capitán de Infantería in the fleets of the Indies and was likely connected to the maritime networks centered on Seville. In addition, Maldonado is here styled Familiar del Santo Oficio, indicating his affiliation with the tribunal of the Inquisition.

(2) Antiquariat Schmidt, Bremen, purchased 1 April 1982.

(3) Dr. Scott Schwartz, New York, his bookplate and catalog number “MS 11” on front pastedown.

Text
ff. 1–47 Summary of lawsuit, followed by witnesses, testimonies, and proofs with judgment in favor of Maldonado (highlighted with manicula on f. 36) and entitlements, concluding with clerical and witness signatures and authentication marks; ff. 48–53, History of the Arms (narrative justification and lineage of the family’s coat of arms dating back to the reign of Alfonso the Great of Leon, r. 866–910); ff. 54–56, Title of Familiar del Santo Oficio (a lay agent of the Inquisition, dated 1604); ff. 57–59, Title of Captain of the Infanteria (assigned to the armada operating to the Indies).

A Carta Ejecutoria was a legal document issued in the name of the king, recognizing a citizen’s noble lineage and status; it was an acknowledgement, not a grant, of nobility. The document served as tangible proof of nobility with practical implications. During the Early Modern period in Spain. the nobility and the clergy constituted an estate far removed from the rest of the population. The property of the nobility was exempt from taxation and protected from civil suits. Nobles could not be imprisoned for indebtedness, or tortured (except for treason), and, if sentenced to execution, had the option of decapitation rather than hanging. The proportion of the population that could make a claim to nobility varied in relation to geography. In the north, nearly half the inhabitants could claim noble blood, whereas in the more recently conquered south, where this manuscript was made, less than one percent of the population was noble.

There is no census of Carta Ejecutoria but they are not rare. However, the present example is exceptional for many reasons: its relatively early date, its extensive illumination, the signature of an artist (they are rarely attributed to specific painters).

Illumination
Two paintings in the sumptuous double-page frontispiece are signed “Ju. del Castillo,” plausibly identifiable with the Sevillian painter Juan del Castillo (c. 1584–c. 1640), one of the leading masters of early seventeenth-century Seville and later the teacher of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. Whereas the artists responsible for the illumination of such legal manuscripts generally remain anonymous, the presence of these signatures is highly unusual. This manuscript thus offers a rare glimpse into the artistic production of illuminated legal documents in early seventeenth-century Spain and may preserve the earliest known work of this important Sevillian painter.

Castillo’s documented career begins in 1611 with a panel painting titled the Allegory of the Institution of the Eucharist (Congregación del Santísimo Sacramento de la Compañía de Jesús, Seville), painted, in all probability, upon his admission to that confraternity in the same year. The work shares several stylistic characteristics with the present frontispiece, including similarly structured facial types, ethereally modeled clouds, and the crisp, almost statuesque contouring of figures. Comparisons may also be drawn between the floral ornament of the present manuscript and the strewn blossoms adorning the altar in the Seville painting. The manuscript further finds parallels with later works from Castillo’s oeuvre, particularly the Assumption of the Virgin in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla (inv. CE0111P), whose figure of the Virgin bears a striking resemblance to the Virgin of the Rosary depicted here. If the attribution is accepted, the manuscript would illuminate an otherwise undocumented phase of Castillo’s career, suggesting that the young artist trained within a Sevillian workshop engaged in the production of luxury legal manuscripts for elite patrons before establishing himself as one of the city's foremost painters.

Diego Maldonado, the recipient of the present Carta Ejecutoria, was a member of the lesser Castilian nobility whose social standing was grounded in lineage, military service, and institutional affiliation. The document identifies him as a Capitán de Infantería in the fleets of the Indies, placing him within the military and maritime networks that connected Seville to Spain’s transatlantic empire. As noble status and limpieza de sangre (purity of blood) were required for colonial enterprise, this document may have been created to qualify Maldonado for such service. Maldonado is further styled Familiar del Santo Oficio, indicating his association with the Spanish Inquisition. As a lay officer attached to the tribunal, Maldonado would have assisted in its administrative and investigative functions while enjoying considerable social prestige. Although little is known of Maldonado’s life beyond the present document, it offers a revealing portrait of how noble identity was obtained and constructed through institutional instruments in Early Modern Spain.

The illustrations comprise the following subjects: ff. 1r–2r (double-page spread), at right, Diego Maldonado kneels in prayer, flanked by two intercessory saints, before the Virgin Mary, who appears within a radiant mandorla set upon a crescent moon encircled by a rosary; at left, the Holy Trinity is enthroned upon the globe and surrounded by a choir of angelic faces, both signed “Ju. del Castillo”; ff. 2v–3r, (double-page spread) a genealogical tree presenting members of the Maldonado family within roundels extending back three generations with additional blank roundels anticipate future descendants; f. 3v, Equestrian portrait of Diego Maldonado, shown armed and riding into battle in the manner of a knight; f. 48v, Armorial frontispiece surmounted by a fully armored knight’s helmet and framed by acanthus foliage; f. 54v, Portrait of Diego Maldonado in civilian dress, accompanied by heraldry and the inscription identifying him as Familiar del Santo Oficio, dated 1604; f. 57v, portrait of Diego Maldonado with his son, both in armor, with heraldry and titling referring to the rank of Capitán de Infantería.

The two historiated initials depict: f. 4, Portrait of Diego Maldonado in armor holding a scroll in an initial ‘R’; f. 44r, Portrait of Diego Maldonado in civilian dress holding a sword in an initial ‘P.’

LITERATURE
Unpublished; Related literature: Enrique Valdivieso González and Juan Miguel Serrera, Historia de la pintura española: Escuela sevillana del primer tercio del siglo XVII, Madrid, 1985, pp. 303–69; Alfonso Pérez Sánchez, Pintura barroca en España, 1600–1750. Madrid, 1992, 169–71; Enrique Valdivieso and José María Fernández López, “Nuevas aportaciones al catálogo de la obra de los pintores Juan de Roelas y Juan del Castillo,” Archivo Español de Arte 74 (2001), pp. 113–25; Lina Malo Lara, “Pinturas de Juan del Castillo para la orden dominica,” Laboratorio de Arte 19 (2006), pp. 475–81. Lina Malo Lara, Juan del Castillo, pintor en la Sevilla del siglo XVII, Seville, 2017.

We thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale.

Collection of Dr. Scott Schwartz

This lot is located in Chicago.

JUAN DEL CASTILLO (likely) (Seville, c. 1584-1640) Carta Ejecutoria de hidalguía (for Diego Maldonado), Illuminated manuscript on parchment [Spain, Granada and Seville, c. 1604–1605]

JUAN DEL CASTILLO (likely) (Seville, c. 1584-1640)
Carta Ejecutoria de hidalguía (for Diego Maldonado), Illuminated manuscript on parchment [Spain, Granada and Seville, c. 1604–1605]