Alonso Cano Circle

Circle of ALONSO CANO (Granada, 1601 - 1667).
"Calvary".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Presents restorations on the pictorial surface.
Signed with anagram.
Measurements: 214 x 136 cm; 236 x 159 cm (frame).
This canvas shows the Crucifixion from a low point of view, which brings a greater rotundity to the dimensions of the figures. It is a work that shows the scene of Christ Crucified accompanied by several angels who collect the blood that flows from the wounds of Christ. The scene stands out for its rawness, not only for the chosen theme, but also for the dark palette, with strong hallmarks of light, such as those generated by the body of Jesus or the sky that envelops the landscape in the background. As already mentioned, the body stands out against the dark background because of its whitish color, and in turn because of the distortion of the anatomical dimensions, which in this case are elongated with respect to the classical canon. The scene is completed by an abrupt and solitary landscape, where bone remains can be seen on the ground. The painting, which stands out for its expressiveness, differs somewhat from the traditional form of representation of Calvary based on Byzantine Deesis, which represented Christ in Majesty accompanied by Mary and St. John the Baptist.
Due to its morphological characteristics, the piece is related to the environment of Alonso Cano, an artist considered one of the most important Baroque artists in Spain. Painter, sculptor and architect, being of great importance his contribution to the three disciplines, which is why today he is considered one of the most influential artists of the Spanish Baroque. He was also the initiator of the Granada school of painting and sculpture, and his disciples included Juan de Sevilla, Pedro Atanasio Bocanegra, José Risueño, Pedro de Mena and José de Mora. Son of an important assembler of altarpieces and possibly also a draftsman, Alonso Cano was initiated in architectural drawing and imagery by his father, with whom he collaborated from a very young age. In 1614 or 1615 he moved with his family to Seville, where he soon joined the painting workshop of Francisco Pacheco, by then the most prestigious master of the city, in fact Velázquez's master, with whom Cano formed a deep friendship. As a sculptor, it is traditionally considered that he must have trained with Juan Martínez Montañés, although there is no documentary evidence of this. In 1624 he signed his first known painting, and two years later he obtained the title of master painter. In 1638 he moved to Madrid, and was soon appointed chamber painter and drawing teacher of Prince Baltasar Carlos. There he became acquainted with the royal collections, which will lead his language to evolve from its early Caravaggism to a more colorful and elegant language, sometimes related to Van Dyck. However, in 1644 he was accused of murdering his wife, which led him to take refuge in Valencia. A year later he returned to Madrid, and in 1652 he returned definitively to Granada, where he obtained a position in the cathedral thanks to the influence of Philip IV. There he completed the decoration of the main chapel and became the main master of the cathedral. Works by Alonso Cano are currently kept in the Prado Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan in New York, the J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles and the Art Institute of Chicago, among other important collections in Spain and abroad.