Ayne Bru

{{short description|Spanish painter}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

Image:Ayne Bru - Martyrdom of Saint Cucuphas - Google Art Project.jpg, 1504–7, Ayne Bru]]

Ayne (Aine) Bru (probably a Catalanization of Hans Brün)[http://www.canalsocial.net/GER/ficha_GER.asp?id=450&cat=biografiasuelta Bru, Ayne – CanalSocial – Enciclopedia GER] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930200951/http://www.canalsocial.net/GER/ficha_GER.asp?id=450&cat=biografiasuelta |date=30 September 2007 }} was a 16th-century Renaissance painter of German origin who worked in Catalonia. He may have proceeded from Lummen, in the Duchy of Brabant. He is sometimes also called Lucius de Brun.[http://pintura.aut.org/SearchAutor?Autnum=13.536 Ciudad de la pintura – La mayor pinacoteca virtual] His surname may also suggest provenance from the town of Brünn.[http://www.canalsocial.net/GER/ficha_GER.asp?titulo=CATALANA,%20ESCUELA%20(Pintura)&cat=arte Catalana, Escuela (pintura) – CanalSocial – Enciclopedia GER] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930203634/http://www.canalsocial.net/GER/ficha_GER.asp?titulo=CATALANA%2C%20ESCUELA%20%28Pintura%29&cat=arte |date=30 September 2007 }}

In 1502, he was hired to paint the main altar (retablo) in the church of the monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès, for which he was paid a staggering wage between 1504 and 1507.

On the central panel, Bru depicted the martyrdom of Saint Cucuphas (in Catalan, Sant Cugat) with enormous realism. The executioner cuts the saint's throat while Cucuphas remains tied to a tree trunk. Nearby, there appear another knife (in a basket) and a dog sleeping peacefully. This work is now at the National Art Museum of Catalonia (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya).

The dog from Bru's painting of Cucuphas' martyrdom was later borrowed by Salvador Dalí for a painting called Dalí Contemplating Nude or Dalí Dalí Dalí.

The vast countryside that serves as a background anachronistically includes the actual monastery of Sant Cugat. Another panel, depicting Saint George (sometimes identified as Saint Candidus or simply as "Warrior Saint"),{{Cite web |url=http://www.mnac.es/colleccio/col_renaixement.jsp?lan=003&ambit=43 |title=Renaissance and Baroque – Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya |access-date=11 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071202071125/http://www.mnac.es/colleccio/col_renaixement.jsp?ambit=43&lan=003 |archive-date=2 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}[http://217.116.15.226/xml/disposiciones/min/disposicion.xml?id_disposicion=55325&desde=min Legislación MCYT – ORDEN ECD/2867/2002, de 31 de octubre, por la que se otorga la garantía del Estado a 122 obras para su exhibición en la Sala de Exposiciones de la Biblioteca Nacional, en Madrid, en la exposición "Pintura y Poesía. Amor y Guerra en...]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} was attached to this one. It has been rejoined and is visible at the National Art Museum of Catalonia.

Marcel Durliat believes that though the expressionism in this painting is evidence of a Germanic artistic tradition, Bru's Quattrocento depiction of the standing figures in contemporary dress, as well as other details, indicate that the painter may have lived or studied in Northern Italy before moving to Barcelona.