Christ at the Column ca. 1440–70 Delli brothers Italian Dating from around 1440-70, this large, well preserved, delicately rendered drawing on fine vellum is of great rarity and historical significance. The drawing embodies the unique mixture of Italian and Spanish elements that prominently defined painting in early to mid-15th century Spain, particularly in the regions of Castilla and Leon. It was produced in Spain, in the workshop of the Delli brothers (Dello Delli, Niccolò Delli, and Sansone Delli), Florentine artists who established themselves in the region of Salamanca and Avila in Spain,

Christ at the Column ca. 1440–70 Delli brothers Italian Dating from around 1440-70, this large, well preserved, delicately rendered drawing on fine vellum is of great rarity and historical significance. The drawing embodies the unique mixture of Italian and Spanish elements that prominently defined painting in early to mid-15th century Spain, particularly in the regions of Castilla and Leon. It was produced in Spain, in the workshop of the Delli brothers (Dello Delli, Niccolò Delli, and Sansone Delli), Florentine artists who established themselves in the region of Salamanca and Avila in Spain, between 1433 and 1445. Their most famous work is the monumental main altarpiece (retablo mayor) of the Old Cathedral of Salamanca, from 1437-45. Born in Florence around 1403, the eldest brother, Dello Delli, who was called "Daniel Florentino" in Spain, was probably the leader of the workshop, and is the most famous of the brothers, as he was the subject of a biography by the eminent historian Giorgio Vasari in 1550 and 1568. As the documents tell, Dello arrived in Spain around 1433, and achieved great renown in his day for his mastery of geometry, pictorial perspective, and architecture, meriting for these reasons a knighthood from the Spanish king, Juan II of Castilla, and commissions at the court of the king of Naples, Alfonso I of Aragón, in 1446. The Florentine republic also recognized Dello's knighthood in 1446. However, it is the middle brother, Niccolò, who is the best-documented member of the team in terms of actual, identifiable works. He became known as "Nicolás Florentino," and was born around 1413. Niccolò was contracted in 1445 to produce the prestigious fresco in the apse, above the newly completed monumental altarpiece (retablo), of the Old Cathedral of Salamanca; he also restored paintings in the Cathedral of Valencia in 1469, and died in 1471 in that city. The youngest brother, Sansone, born in 1416, was closely dependent on Dello in his early years, an

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