A headline in The Times newspaper recently claimed ‘Spain falls back in love’ with Baroque polychromed sculpture, citing a number of spectacular exhibitions that can currently be seen in the cities of Valladolid and Madrid. I thought we might therefore spend some time looking at this phenomenon and the artists and artworks from seventeenth century Spain that exerted such extraordinary power on audiences both then and today.
I’m beginning with a post devoted to the artist that I believe was the greatest proponent of this art-form, the Andalusian sculptor Juan Martínez Montañés (1568 – 1649). Montañés is currently the subject of a show in Valladolid cathedral, where his work is displayed alongside that of his Galician contemporary Gregorio Fernández (1576-1636).
For the me the highlight of the Valladolid show is this portrayal of Saint Bruno, the austere founder of the Carthusian order. A work I have seen many time before in Seville, yet here in Valladolid it is placed in a darkened chapel where the Saint’s monumental white robes and the stark realism of his gaunt features leave a lasting impression on the viewer of this powerhouse of western monasticism.
The Arts of Golden Age Spain and the Hispanic World 