Pedro de Mena Circle

Circle of PEDRO DE MENA (Granada, 1628-Malaga, 1688).
"Immaculate Conception".
Carved and polychrome wood.
It presents faults and repainting in the carving.
Measurements: 82 x 36 x 36 cm.
The figure of the Virgin as the Immaculate Conception stands on a carved wooden base with curved mouldings and large scrolls that frame the heads of cherubs that serve as a base for the Virgin. Mary is shown standing dressed in a white tunic with gilded vegetal decorations and a blue mantle with a gold border and pattern. The young Virgin clasps her hands together in front of her breast, and her gaze is lowered, her eyes narrowed, giving a naturalistic quality to the ghetto of her face. Her fine, idealised features lend a calmness to the figure that is also common in Immaculate Conception paintings.
The fact that this work belongs to the Baroque school of Granada is clear from the features, posture, etc., just as it is possible to appreciate the influence of Pedro de Mena, as the position of the hands is reminiscent of that of the Immaculate Conception in the Lorca Town Hall.
Pedro de Mena was a Spanish Baroque sculptor, son of the sculptor Alonso de Mena (whose workshop is considered to be the most important in Granada until the work of Alonso Cano). He trained with his father, remaining at the head of the workshop, and later working with Alonso Cano when he settled in Granada in 1952. In 1568 he went to Malaga to work on the choir stalls of the city's cathedral and in 1662 he travelled to Madrid, requested by Juan José de Austria and also visited Toledo (the San Francisco del Tesoro Catedralicio earned him the appointment as sculptor of the cathedral). On his return to Malaga, he continued with important commissions (Altarpiece of Nuestra Señora de los Reyes in the Cathedral, etc.). Stylistically, the isolation and seclusion of his figures stand out, with marked introspection and expressions of ecstasy, and sober gesticulation. The use of a reduced format was also common. A great creator of prototypes that were widely followed by other masters, he produced very numerous series of certain iconographies and left a large number of signed works. His work is preserved in a large number of important religious institutions, as well as in selected private collections and in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Lorca Town Hall, the Metropolitan Museum in New York (USA), the Museo Nacional de Escultura Colegio de San Gregorio in Valladolid, the Museo de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, the Museo del Císter in Malaga, the Museo de Bellas Artes in Seville, etc.