SANTA FE — A retablo of Archangel San Rafael, circa 1785-1800, School of Miera y Pacheco, outperformed its high estimate to realize $60,000, inclusive of buyer’s premium, at the Santa Fe Art Auction’s Leap Day sale on February 29.

At 51-7/8 by 21-1/8 inches, this is one of the largest retablos to come from the School of Miera y Pacheco, overshadowed in size only by another lot in the sale, also from Miera y Pacheco, which sold for $48,000. It is a massive, single-board work, bearing an image painted with oils over gessoed wood. The Archangel San Rafael carries a staff with cross, has large white wings, wears a plumed helmet, indigo tunic and billowing red cape. He appears over the heads of angels. The large panel contains as a mitered frame of hand grooved molding, segmented and painted red and black at intervals and decorated with floral elements, wooden pegs attached to the panel.

In a 1993 communication from Father Thomas Steele, he speculates that this retablo panel is possibly one of the four original panels from the 1800-10 Alameda altar screen. He attributes this retablo panel to a follower of Bernardo Miera y Pacheco or possibly Manuel Miera y Pacheco [son of Don Bemardo)

The retablo was a highlight of the consignor’s collection when it hung in his remarkable historic adobe home in Santa Fe, and certainly one of the most desirable and watched lots in the sale of the Joseph Pytka collection. The sale featured 440 lots, and was conducted over more than seven hours of online bidding with more than 1,000 registered bidders watching from 20 countries, resulting in a remarkable 97 percent sell-through. A total of 13 lots were passed but in the 24 hours following the sale most were snapped up post-auction, bringing the total sale value to $1.2 million.

Said Santa Fe Art Auction’s president Gillian Blitch, “Over the several decades that Mr Pytka spent in New Mexico, meticulously restoring the historic adobe compound in the heart of Santa Fe, he was renowned for his knowledge and passion for the arts and history of New Mexico, and this collection represents his great love affair with the state.”

Watch for a full recap of this sale in an upcoming issue.