Lady in Ermine

Lady in Ermine
Lady in Ermine
Directed by	Eusebio Fernández Ardavín
Written by	Luis Fernández Ardavín (play) ; Rafael Gil
Starring	Lina Yegros ; Jorge Mistral ; Alicia Palacios
Cinematography	Manuel Berenguer
Edited by	Gaby Peñalba
Music by	Jesús García Leoz
Production; company	Suevia Films
Distributed by	Suevia Films
Release date	3 November 1947;
Running time	102 minutes
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish

Lady in Ermine (Spanish: La dama del armiño) is a 1947 Spanish historical drama film directed by Eusebio Fernández Ardavín and starring Lina Yegros, Jorge Mistral and Alicia Palacios.^[1] It is based on a 1922 play [es] by his brother Luis, which portrays a fictitious relationship between the daughter of the painter El Greco and a young Jewish goldsmith in sixteenth century Toledo.

The film was made by Suevia Films, one of the dominant Spanish production companies of the era. It was shot at the Sevilla Film Studios in Madrid, with sets designed by the art director Enrique Alarcón.

Plot summary

During the reign of Philip II of Spain, Catalina poses in ermine furs for his father, who is painting Lady in a Fur Wrap. Jews Samuel the young, Abraham and Job go to the Corpus Christi procession in Toledo, Spain to admire the monstrance. They feign being Christians to be inconspicuous. When the Theotokopouloses go to the windows to venerate the body of Christ, Samuel sees Catalina and falls in love with her. Don Luis courts Catalina but is barely tolerated. The old painter wants to reward his daughter with a jewel and sends her and Gregoria to the workshop of both Samuels. Don Luis leaves Catalina and Gregoria at the shop, where they meet Samuel the young, who gallantly woos her. Since Don Luis did not make his appointment to escort them home, Samuel takes the women there. When he returns, he praises Catalina, ignoring the love of Jarifa. He claims to believe in his art rather than any god. Andrés feels outraged and quits the workshop.

Don Luis is displeased that the ladies have left and quarrels with Samuel. They fight and Don Luis takes the worst wounds. Andrés denounces Samuel to the Inquisition for attempting the murder of a Christian noble.

Samuel and Catalina know that the religion is a barrier for their love. Samuel visits El Greco's house so that he and Catalina can choose a jewel. Meanwhile, the Inquisition takes Samuel the old prisoner and go to El Greco's house to find his son. Catalina hides Samuel in her room through the night when they fell to temptation. Gregoria arranges for Samuel to escape to Lisbon but, when he hears that his father is in prison, he returns to Toledo and is arrested. His father is released but dies soon. Samuel has started to accept Christianity out of love for Catalina. He is instructed by Friar Paravicino, who has become his lawyer. Don Luis's declaration before the Inquisition does not help Samuel in spite of Catalina's requests. The chief inquisitor poses for his portrait and hears Catalina's plaint. Samuel is baptized and works in the prison to make a magnificent monstrance.

Another Corpus feast arrives. El Greco, Paravicino and Don Luis gather in the painter's house anticipating Catalina's joy. When the procession passes before the house, everybody admires the new monstrance. A free Samuel leaves the procession to embrace Catalina. Jarifa sees them from a distance and disappears leaving a lamp by a well.

Cast

Lina Yegros as Catalina. Daughter of El Greco.
Jorge Mistral as Samuel, el joven. Jewish master silversmith, son of Samuel the old.
Alicia Palacios as Jarifa, la morisca. Morisco slave.
Julia Lajos as Gregoria, la dueña.
Fernando Fernández de Córdoba as Fray Hortensio Paraviccino
José Prada as El Greco. Old master painter.
Eduardo Fajardo as Don Luis Tristán. Noble apprentice of El Greco and suitor of Catalina.
Arturo Marín as Abraham. Jewish silversmith.
Félix Fernández as Job. Jewish silversmith.
José Jaspe as Andrés. Christian silversmith, suitor of Jarifa and envious of Samuel the young.
Fernando Fresno as Samuel el Viejo. Silversmith and father of Samuel the young.
Ricardo Calvo (actor) [es]

Accuracy

The existence of a daughter of El Greco is not documented. The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492.^[2] Any Jews in Spain were either illegal aliens or lapsed Conversos to be punished by the Spanish Inquisition, not a tolerated minority as depicted in the film.

Trivia

There is a novel titled Lady in Ermine: The Story of a Woman Who Painted the Renaissance (2019), about the life of Renaissance artist Sofonisba Anguissola, by Donna DiGiuseppe

References

^ Mira p.56
^ de Mingo Lorente, Adolfo. "La procesión del Corpus Christi de Toledo en el cine" [The Procession of Corpus Christi of Toledo in film] (PDF) (in European Spanish). Toledo: Ayuntamiento de Toledo. p. 1. Retrieved 13 July 2021. La película, justamente criticada por su antisemitismo -que parte, además, del anacronismo de recrear un Toledo poblado por judíos en época del cardenal Niño de Guevara, cuando había transcurrido ya más de medio siglo desde su expulsión-, [The film, fairly criticized for its anti-Semitism -rooted, besides, in the anachronism of recreating a Toledo populated by Jews in the times of Cardinal Niño de Guevara, when more than a half century had passed since their expulsion-,]

Bibliography

Mira, Alberto. The Cinema of Spain and Portugal. Wallflower Press, 2005.

External links

Lady in Ermine at IMDb

[1] Mira p.56

[Mingo-2] Mingo Lorente, Adolfo. "La procesión del Corpus Christi de Toledo en el cine" [The Procession of Corpus Christi of Toledo in film] (PDF) (in European Spanish). Toledo: Ayuntamiento de Toledo. p. 1. Retrieved 13 July 2021. La película, justamente criticada por su antisemitismo -que parte, además, del anacronismo de recrear un Toledo poblado por judíos en época del cardenal Niño de Guevara, cuando había transcurrido ya más de medio siglo desde su expulsión-, [The film, fairly criticized for its anti-Semitism -rooted, besides, in the anachronism of recreating a Toledo populated by Jews in the times of Cardinal Niño de Guevara, when more than a half century had passed since their expulsion-,]

[1]

[2]

v t e El Greco
List of works Artistic overview Posthumous fame
Paintings	Adoration of the Magi (c. 1565–1567) Dormition of the Virgin (1565–1566) Healing of the Man Born Blind Dresden, 1567 Parma, c. 1573 Modena Triptych (1567–1569) Baptism of Christ (1567–1569) Last Supper (1568) Flight into Egypt (1570) Annunciation Prado, 1570 Madrid, 1575–1576 Illescas, 1600–1605 Purification of the Temple Washington, 1570 Minneapolis, 1570 New York, 1595–1600 London, 1600 Madrid, 1609 The Fable (1570–1575) Entombment of Christ (1570–1576) El Soplón (1571–1572) Pietà (1571–1576) Penitent Magdalene (1576–1578) Saint Sebastian (1576–1579) Santo Domingo el Antiguo Altarpiece (1577) Saint Lawrence's Vision of the Madonna and Child (1577) Adoration of the Holy Name of Jesus (1577–1579) Assumption of the Virgin (1577–1579) Disrobing of Christ (El Expolio) (1577–1579) Holy Trinity (c. 1577–1579) Saint Anthony of Padua (1580) Christ Carrying the Cross New York, c. 1580 Barcelona, 1590–1595 Madrid, 1597–1600 The Martyrdom of Saint Maurice (1580–1582) The Tears of Saint Peter Barnard Castle, 1580–1589 Mexico City, 1587–1596 Oslo, c. 1590 The Immaculate Conception with Saint John the Evangelist (c. 1585) The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (1586) Holy Family (1586–1588) Holy Face of Jesus (1586–1595) Saint Peter and Saint Paul Barcelona, 1587–1592 Saint Petersburg, c. 1587–1592 Agony in the Garden London, 1590 Andújar, 1597–1607 Christ on the Cross Adored by Two Donors (c. 1590) The Penitent Saint Peter (c. 1590–1595) Saint Louis (1592–1595) Virgin Mary (Mater Dolorosa) (c. 1594–1604) Holy Family (c. 1595) Christ Taking Leave of his Mother (1595) Saint Andrew and Saint Francis (1595–1598) Adoration of the Shepherds Bucharest, 1596 Madrid, 1612–1614 Doña María de Aragón Altarpiece (1596–1599) View of Toledo (1596–1600) Virgin Mary (1597) Saint Martin and the Beggar (1597–1599) The Virgin of Charity (1597–1603) Allegory of the Camaldolese Order (c. 1597) Saint John the Baptist (1597–1607) Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Francis (c. 1600) Saint Bernardino of Siena (1603) Nativity (1603–1605) Coronation of the Virgin (1603–1605) Marriage of the Virgin (1603–1607) Saint John the Evangelist (c. 1605) The Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Hyacinth (c. 1605–1610) The Immaculate Conception (1607–1613) Saint Peter (1608) View and Plan of Toledo (1608) Concert of Angels (1608) The Saviour (1608–1614) Saint Thomas the Apostle (1608–1614) Opening of the Fifth Seal (1608–1614) Saint Jerome (1609) Saint Ildefonsus (1609) Saint Francis and Brother Leo (1609) Saint James the Great (1610) Saint Luke (1610–1614) Laocoön (1610–1614) Saint Paul (1610–1614) Saint Sebastian (1610–1614) Julián Romero and Saint Julian (1612–1614)
Portraits	Portrait of Giulio Clovio (c. 1571) Portrait of Vincenzo Anastagi (1571–1576) The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest (c. 1580) Portrait of a Doctor (1582–1585) Portrait of a Gentleman (c. 1586) Portrait of Rodrigo Vázquez de Arce (c. 1587–1597; lost, known from a copy) Portrait of an Elderly Man (1587–1600) Portrait of Antonio de Covarrubias (1595–1600) Self-Portrait (1595–1600) Portrait of Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli (c. 1597–1603) Portrait of a Young Nobleman (1600–1605) Cardinal Fernando Niño de Guevara (c. 1600) Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman (1603–1607) Portrait of Fray Hortensio Félix Paravacino (1609) Portrait of Juan Pardo de Tavera (1609) Portrait of Jerónimo de Cevallos (1609–1613) Portrait of Francisco de Pisa (1610–1614)
Museums	El Greco Museum, Toledo Museum of El Greco, Crete
Related	Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli (son) Lady in Ermine (1947 film) El Greco (1966 film) El Greco (1998 album) El Greco (2007 film) El Greco fallacy