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After a short stay at Plasencia he joined the papal choir in Rome (1535), where he remained for 10 years, during which time he published several collections of his compositions. His work and travels with the papal choir greatly advanced his fame. His health seems to have suffered during this period, and he returned to Spain in 1545, where he was appointed maestro de capilla at Toledo Cathedral the same year. He left after two years, and after a period at Marchena in the service of the duke of Arcos he was appointed maestro de capilla at M?laga in 1551.
He enjoyed remarkable fame during his lifetime, and his reputation continued to grow after his death. Apart from his numerous publications in Rome, including 16 of his Masses, his works were published widely during his lifetime and quickly found their way to cathedrals as far away as Cuzco in Peru. The earliest printed polyphony prepared for use in the New World was Morales’ 1544 book of Masses, now part of the cathedral treasure of Pueblo, Mex.
Of his 21 Masses, 16 were published in Rome in 1544, under Morales’ personal supervision. Morales was the first Spanish conposer to write Magnificats in all eight ecclesiastical modes. They were unquestionably the most popular of his works in the 16th century and were widely reprinted. Of his many motets, two have been repeatedly singled out for mention, Lamentabatur Jacob and Emendemus in melius, both in five parts. But there are frequently suspect grounds for contemporary popularity of particular works, and many of his other motets are equally fine.
Jubilate Deo omnis terra (in six parts), commissioned by Pope Paul III to mark the peace treaty between Charles V and Francis I, was later parodied by Victoria in his Mass Gaudeamus, and Guerrero based his Mass Sancta et immaculata on Morales’ motet. No less a figure than Palestrina parodied a Morales motet for his Mass 0 sacrum convivium.
Morales, Luis de, called EL DIVINO (b. C. 1509, Badajoz, Spain—d. May 9, 1586, Badajoz), painter who was the first Spanish artist of pronounced national character, considered to be the greatest native Mannerist painter of Spain, He is remembered for his emotional religious paintings, which earned him his sobriquet and greatly appealed to the Spanish populace.
Morales may have studied with the Flemish painter Hernando Sturmio in Badajoz. He worked in Badajoz from 1546, leaving on occasional commissions but making his home there all his life. Summoned by King Philip II of Spain to help in the decoration of El Escorial, he painted a “Christ Carrying the Cross” that did not please the King and was removed to the church of San JerOnimo, Madrid.
Morales always worked on panels, often depicting such subjects as “Ecce Homo,” Piet?,” and “The Virgin and Child.” Perhaps the best known of these panels are 20 on the life of Christ, painted for the church of Arroyo del Puerco (1563—68). All of his paintings are marked by their Leonardesque composition, detailed execution, and anguished asceticism. He remains an artist remarkably representative of his period and nation.
