3-098-364 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Eucharistic Christ, c1520-c1530. Alternative title: Eucharistic Saviour. Frontal bust of Christ, with a curly beard and long hair arranged symmetrically on either side of his head, in the act of blessing with his right hand, derives from a work by Leonardo, perhaps from a lost Salvator Mundi. Christ appears with a self-absorbed expression, his eyelids drooping instead of gazing directly at the viewer. More significant is the inclusion in his left hand of a chalice with a host hovering above it. This clear Eucharistic reference initiates what would become a lasting iconographic tradition in Spain, and more specifically in Valencia.