Mysteries of Art: hidden details in a work by Francisco Comontes

Pablo Picasso said - according to Carlos Rojas in the prologue of his book 'The mythical and magical world of Picasso'- that of:' we all know that art is not the truth. Art is the lie that makes us understand the truth, at least the understandable truth. ' But Art, well, in capital letters, is also that righteous spirit that, like James Fleming's James Bond, is licensed, if not to kill, obviously, yes to transgress. And as a transgressor, he gets closer to that archetypal figure of Don Juan, in his bewitching quality of seducer and mocker, capable of using any device to achieve his goals. It concentrates, then, the old axiom that the end justifies the means; or in other words: everything is valid, if a certain goal is achieved.

But behind the metaphorical figure of Don Juan, and as a counterpoint, perhaps, to maintain a necessary balance, there is also the figure of the Law. The Law has not always been a Justice imperative - not even today, so it can be think that it is not in vain that it is represented allegorically with a scale in one hand, a sword in the other and blindfolded-, and generally, it has tended to be partisan, defending, in many cases, imperative postulates, which forced to accept the vision of the world -both physical, as well as political, and spiritually-, according to some strata pre-established inexorably by the factual powers of each epoch. Nor did we have that vision of Art that we have today. Art was not available to everyone; it was not, therefore, of a popular nature. It could not be, except from a purely 'educative' vision and under that rigidity, the artist was not allowed to get out of previously developed scripts, where there was no place to change the points and commas that he had to represent, under pain of severe punishments , not exempt, in many occasions, from a fatal condemnation.
It only fit the artist, then, to use his intelligence and countless tricks to convey, hidden in that obligatory and apparent generalized truth, a philosophy and ideas that could cost him death, of daring to expose them openly. If we understand and share this point of view, we will also understand another concept that may be more familiar to us, since it determines the "struggle awareness" that has been practiced by the common people, at least since the Industrial Revolution.

The era in which Francisco Comontes lived-fifteenth and sixteenth centuries-was a time as turbulent as those others that followed and gave episodes as important as the French Revolution. It was the time of Calvin and Luther; of ignited wars of religion; of splits; of emerging empires and flourishing schools, like the flamenco, whose predecessors caused admiration in a convulsed Europe, marking a style that was followed by numerous artists. Comontes, he was one of them. His association with a city like Toledo, is evidenced, at least, in several of his works, currently exhibited in the cathedral museum of the cathedral. Of these, the Epiphany or Adoration of the Magi draws great attention. It is an oil on canvas, supposedly made in the period between 1540 and 1545. Observing it, interesting conclusions are drawn.
In principle, it could be suggested that one of the most repetitive details in his work is the golden cross, florenced arms and beyond any nimbada reference, which can be seen behind the back of the Child's neck, as can also be seen in another of his works -The Flight into Egypt-, also belonging to the small cathedral museum, made in the same period of time, where you can also see the same face in the characters of Saint Joseph, the Virgin Mary and the Child.

Rich in details and nuances, which at first could be considered merely circumstantial, the scene proposed by Comontes invites us, however, to pay more attention, not only to the objects that appear in it, but also, it impels us to go further on, to focus on the characters and reflect on the characteristics and attitudes of some of them. Based on this, it would be necessary, first of all, to wonder why that look of strict acrimony that San Jose directs towards the magician king that appears in the foreground, waiting for Melchior, kneeling on the ground in an act of submission, deliver your present; a present, in addition, that in the case of these two kings, moves away from the traditional glass, which, however, can be seen in the hand of Fusco or black king, and introduces an element perhaps more symbolic and complex: the chest or chest.

Melchor, kneeling, has no crown or headdress, unlike the other two. The chest that is given to the Child is open. But its content, far from that gold evangelist offering, invites speculation. They are not coins, nor is the pristine mineral liberated from the impurities of the earth. It seems that the offering that Melchor is actually offering the Child, were mushrooms. And if this is so, it will be better understood, then, the supposed figure of Baltasar and possibly also the attitude of anger, perhaps contained anger, of San José. The star, a primordial element in any Epiphany, also calls to speculate: its halo, that comet tail that supposedly determines the movement and by default, its mission of guiding the magicians, is seen in the lower part, as if to indicate a ' ascension 'from below, from the earth and not a stellar provenance. Below it, in the laborious crown that King Baltasar wears, we already find a very specific symbol, which would not only represent the Muslim world, as one might think - and in this, we must recognize the artist's ability to play with the double intentions-, but also something much more archaic, important and primordial: the moon or the ginolátrico world of the Goddess. And in the same way that Christianity talks about the three wise men who went to adore the Child - the old religion, paying homage to the new one - I wonder if Comontes did not want to go further in his details, reminding us, precisely , the trinitarian character of what already existed before the supposed kings, that is, the Triple Goddess, in whose initiation ceremonies, such as those that took place in places like Eleusis, we know of the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms that put the neophyte in contact with those other inner 'realities', where all religions, including Christianity, insist on placing God ... or the Goddess. That said, and even if I rained on tiptoe, it is now necessary to ask: to whom does the alleged relics of the magicians who are custodians in the cathedral of Cologne really belong? And without the intention of undermining the illusion of childhood, and leaving aside the Zoroastrian theories, which would explain, according to some sectors, the underlying paganism in such enigmatic figures, did the three wise men ever exist?

Bibliography:
Carlos Rojas: 'The mythical and magical world of Picasso', Editorial Planeta, S.A., Barcelona, 1984.