Spanish Renaissance school of the second third of the 16th century

Spanish Renaissance school; second third of the 16th century.
"Saint".
Carved and polychrome wood.
Presents cracks in the carving.
Measurements: 74 x 30 x 21 cm.

Sculpture carved only by the front area, so that originally it was conceived in an ornamental way as part of a set of larger dimensions. The work presents the figure of a woman of rounded forms, where the gesture of the face that preserves the moderation and balance of the Renaissance school stands out, the rigidity, in a certain way marked by the great verticality of the work, confers to the carving a sober finish that is counterbalanced by the luminosity of the golden mantle. In terms of aesthetics, it is worth mentioning that the work preserves certain aspects typical of the Gothic period. However, the treatment of the face, in which rounded and soft forms are appreciated, tending to the idealization of the features, brings the figure closer to the aesthetic postulates that were developed during the Renaissance.

Sculpture reflects perhaps better than other artistic fields this eagerness to return to the classical Greco-Roman world that exalts the individuality of man in his nudes, creating a new style whose vitality surpasses mere copying. Soon the anatomy, the movement of the figures, the compositions with a sense of perspective and balance, the naturalistic play of the folds, the classical attitudes of the figures began to be valued; but the strong Gothic tradition maintains the expressiveness as a vehicle of the deep spiritualistic sense that informs our best Renaissance sculptures. This strong and healthy tradition favors the continuity of religious sculpture in polychrome wood that accepts the formal beauty offered by Italian Renaissance art with a sense of balance that avoids its predominance over the immaterial content that animates the forms.