Estimate

10.000 - 15.000

Session 2

14 October 2020

Hammer Price

Description

An important depiction of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception
Carved, polychrome and gilt wooden sculpture
Spain, 16th/17th century
(minor faults and restoration, losses to gilding and to polychrome surfaces)

Height: 86 cm

Category

Sculpture

Additional Information

This depiction is supported on a crescent within a throne of clouds (the Immaculate's favoured symbol) from which emerge three cherubs heads (symbols of Divine Grace). The Virgin is depicted in praying position with Her hands humbly joined over the chest, according to the iconographic dogmas of the era, being portrayed as an adolescent, of young face and low gaze in an attitude of serene and calm concentration. The Virgin has a rounded head and a cylindrical shaped neck, long hair that falls symmetrically over the shoulders and back and is attired in a tunic and cloak of trapezoidal shape. The notches of the folds, in the form of deep and marked creases, with emphasis on the tips and backs of the cape and tunic, where it's fastened with a pin at the waist, (a fashion among ladies of the nobility of the time). Also noteworthy is the attention given to the polychromy of the fabrics. The design and composition of this work correspond to the prototypes made by the Spanish sculptor Gregorio Fernández (1576-1636), to whom this work can be attributed for its remarkable quality. Although created as autonomous sculptures, some of his works were conceived on a broader iconographic plan, such as altarpieces. It's documented that the first natural-sized Immaculate Virgin he sculpted (and the first of the series he would later execute) dates from 1617 and is that of the convent of San Francisco in Valladolid whose location is unfortunately unknown, or perhaps has been destroyed.The Immaculate Conception of the convent of Nuestra Señora de Abrojo, dated ca. 1617, and also does not exist. The version of the Cathedral of Astorga (dated 1626) may be one of Fernández's most successful models, being very similar to the one that is now presented. Gregorio Fernández (1576-1636) The artistic tradition associated with Valladolid - which reached a high level in the 16th century - and the fact that it was the favorite city of the Spanish monarchy between 1601 and 1606, was responsible for a considerable number of 17th century artists who prolonged the splendor achieved by artists like Alonso Berruguete (1488-1561), Juan de Juni (1506-1577) and Pompeo Leoni (1533-1608). Added to this reality were the religious impositions that made the fleeting capital of the monarchy the ideal place to
consolidate the ideals of the Counter-Reformation, and it was this environment that the artist Gregorio Fernández found when he arrived there in 1605. His work was inspired by the grounded forms of classicism that accepted a reality in which the need to deepen the naturalistic components of religious images had to confront the need to exhibit them in a way that amazes them. The totality of shapes perfectly adapted to the continuous movement of processional sculpture and the rigorous contemplation required by the symmetrical compartmentalization of the altarpieces were valued. As an example, we mention the strict lines of Francisco de Mora (Altarpiece of Nava del Rey, Valladolid, 1611-1612) that provided the ideal support for the first images of Fernández - long before he reached the monumentality of his work in the church of San Miguel de Vitoria (1624) or in the Cathedral of Plasencia (1625-1632). In these creations, sculpture started to assume a fundamental role that transformed the niches of the altarpieces in the ideal places to divulge the persuasive power of the images, which became the undisputed protagonists of these structures.The corporeality of the figures, the subtle polychromes that reflect the contributions of painters like Diego Valentín Díaz (1586-1660), the delicate reliefs and the complete volumes are some of the characteristics that the history of art emphasizes in the work of Fernández. On themes deeply rooted in the Spanish mentality, such as the Immaculate Conception, Fernández conceived a singular sculptural type that has remained unchanged over time. Conceived as a frontal image in a state of mystical retreat, the Virgin wears long, diagonally draped tunics, with exquisite cut hair that falls down her back. Favorite sculptor of nobles like (Francisco Gomez de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma and Rodrigo Calderón, as well as Kings Filipe III and Filipe IV), and of the main processional brotherhoods and religious orders, Gregorio Fernández was the artist responsible for a school of sculpture that extended through Madrid to Castile, northern Spain, Galicia and Extremadura.

Literature: Belda Navarro, C. in Enciclopedia, Madrid, 2006, vol. III, pp. 1047-1048