Newly discovered paintings from Spain's Golden Age in French churches

The article provides information about some seventeenth-century paintings w hich have recently come to light. Among the most important are Jose Leonard o's Three Miracles of San Isidro Labrador, Antonio de Castillo's Christ Chi ld with St John the Apostle and St John the Baptist (signed and dated 1644) , and Claudio Coello's Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane (signed and dated 1672). Other less well-known painters include Pedro Nunez del Valle, Jose Antolinez, Acisclo Antonio Palomino, and even a contemporary Mexican artist , Cristobal de Villalpando. New attributions to Cano and Ribera are discuss ed, as well as mistakes that may occur, especially in the case of old copie s, particularly when the work cannot be examined in detail. Apart from the new material, the article focusses on the large number of do nations made to French churches in the nineteenth century. The bulk of the gifts probably came from art treasures acquired during the Napoleonic wars, many of which are still missing. In some cases their provenance may be eve n earlier, indication that cultural and commercial links between Spain and France may have existed as early as the seventeenth century.