Alonso Cano, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Juan van der Hamen y León, Francisco Collantes, Sebastián de Llanos and Valdés... It is not the new exhibit at the National museum of El Prado but the November-December catalogue of the Madrid auction house, which continues to throw itself in its effort to supply the avid collector with the best of the Spanish Golden age school. The thruth is, however impossible it may seem in the current delicate juncture, that while other lots repeat at auction, Fernando Durán not only updates its stock but upgrades it too for the 30 of November and 1 of December sales.  

Although we know  it is not all gold that glitters, in general the colection of the Madrid sales room is, without doubt, one of the best to have hit the auction block in the last three months. And in a last analysis has nothing to be envious of its French, German or austrian counterparts, specially in regards to Spanish painting.

But one of Fernando Durán's great advantages is its compromise to all fields of collecting and its commitment to the average everyday art lover. A long list of works on paper from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries will kick off the sale with starting prices ranging in between 100 and 500 euros. Among them a great highlight is the St . John composition attributed to Murillo with a starting price of 25.000 euros. It is followed by all type of works for all kinds of tastes such as a portrait of a gentleman in 450 euros or a sixteenth Spanish panel of the Flagellation starting at 900 euros.      

The nice face of portrait of a gentleman attributed to the eighteenth century Italian school starting at 1.800 euros, will preceed great master works such as the Inmaculate Conception by Juan de Espinal in 10.000 euros, Saint Maria Egyptiaca in contemplation by Francisco Collantes in 17.000 euros or The Virgin of el Carmen delivering the scapulary to Saint Simon Stock by Francisco Solís with a starting price of 9.000 euros.   

Given the absence of eighteenth century masters, the naked thorso of Saint Sebastian attributed to Ramón Bayeu rises as a magnificent canvas of undoubtable artistic merit. An identical composition to the work Arquímedes by José de Ribera in the Prado museum starts at only 90.000 euros, while the pair Saint Domingo Guzmán and Saint Peter martyr attributed to Alonso Cano will do so for 27.000 euros.

Old masters will be followed by a faboulous selection of Decorative arts and Contemporary art, so numerous it would be impossible to name it in its entirety, but which make this sale one of the most important of the year 2011. Alfonso Carbajo Agrasar  

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