Pedro Roldán's workshop

Workshop of PEDRO ROLDÁN (Seville, 1624 - ibidem, 1699).
"Saint John the Baptist".
Carved, gilded and polychrome wood.
It presents restorations and phylactery of later period.
Measurements: 155 x 61 x 72 cm.
Round sculpture carved in wood and polychrome representing St. John the Baptist accompanied by a lamb and holding a large cross with his right hand, although this does not retain the usual phylactery. Aesthetically the work is close to the sculpture of Pedro Roldán. Sculptor from Seville, although he spent a brief stay in Granada, where he trained in the workshop of the sculptor Alonso de Mena. In 1646, he returned to Seville, where he achieved great success and fame. The cultural richness of Seville led to a greater demand for commissions. This led to the creation of a workshop where a large number of artists worked and trained. Roldán's sculpture shows an interest in realistic carving. His style was characterized by the search for a new artistic language, moving away from the aesthetics of the masters of the first half of the century such as Montañés, Cano, Mesa and Ribas. Roldan's compositions are characterized by being very dynamic, using foreshortenings, faces with pronounced profiles, with straight noses and very marked cheekbones, and the clothes with sinuous waves. In this case the sculptor presents a carving in which the saint is standing, thus creating a pyramidal composition. Although this composition gives a certain hieratism to the piece, the sculptor has resolved the movement thanks to the mantle, which has been arranged in an undulating way over the prophet.
With Renaissance sculpture we find the purest expression of the Spanish soul. In the hierarchy of our artistic excellence, the sculpture of the 16th century represents an equivalence of perfection with the painting of the following century. All the passion, the mysticism, the yearning for beauty, the exaltation of the spirit, the flame that burns the matter, we find it in these statues and reliefs that cover the altarpieces. Likewise, it can be affirmed that yes, there is a distinctly Hispanic renaissance that uses Italian forms to express an essentially anti-classical temperament and ideals, derived directly from Spanish religiosity. There is no radical break with the plastic art of the late Gothic; the naturalistic rhythms and excesses, the angular folds and violent chiaroscuro are softened, and more harmonious and balanced rhythms and more delicate lines are introduced. However, the expressive intensity is the same, seeking above all to delve into the soul, to disrupt the classical type of correction in favor of the spiritual effusiveness that goes beyond pure aesthetics.