"Christ". Imposing carved, polychromed and gilded... Lot n° 6 A

"Christ". Imposing carved, polychromed and gilded wooden sculpture. Castilian workshop. Gothic. 15th Century. 174 x 174 cm. The fingers of both hands have been restored. The Crucified Christ that we present is an excellent Gothic piece, probably from a Castilian workshop, that presents numerous peculiarities, perhaps because it was not made in one of the main sculptural centres. This is the reason that, although the general appearance is of a Gothic nature, some elements can be seen that do not fit with that period, which is the case of the curved folds and understated appearance of the loin cloth and also the way that the are feet arranged in a naturalistic position when it would be more typical for them to be placed in an internally rotated position. It is a life-size figure of Christ attached to the sacred wood by three nails – this arrangement, which over the centuries became the most common, was attributed by Lucas de Tuy to the Albigensian heretics, who points out that they conceived it that way with a certain sense of mockery and derision.  The figure has a serene face and calm appearance, suffering is not to be perceived anywhere and, likewise, there are hardly any traces of blood. The body, far from showing any sign of rigidity or hieraticism, has slight lateral movement due to the displacement of the hip towards the right side, and also to the projection of both knees towards the front. The anatomical treatment, far from being abstract or schematized, tends towards naturalism or, at least, has a tendency towards realism, in search of softness, rounded shapes and a generally kindly appearance. The eyes are closed and the mouth is slightly open, so that it looks as if he has just exhaled. The figure has a broad forehead, with curved eyebrows and a large nose. The head leans towards the right shoulder, collapsing due to the effect of death. The long hair is styled in a compact way, only given movement by a series of deep and parallel waves. The beard is short and is made up of small curly locks, the same solution that is used to compose the moustache. There is no crown of thorns. The arms are fully extended almost forming a horizontal line. He wears only a perizonium, or loin cloth, carved on the piece itself and adjusted in such a way that it hints at the anatomy of the hips. It is a short cloth that barely covers part of the thighs, leaving the knees exposed. It is tied at the left hip by a slightly bulging bow, furrowed by schematic curved folds, and decorated with two narrow gold stripes on the upper and lower edges. The Christ presents some small flaws in the polychrome on the shoulders, perhaps due to the fact that the sculpture has undergone some restoration. Likewise, and as is frequent in pieces that are so many centuries old and that have been used for worship, most of the original fingers have been lost and have been replaced by new ones with such skill that not only do they not disengage but they look like originals. In short, the work would have been carried out on an indeterminate date in the fifteenth century, perhaps more towards the end of the century, by a good sculptor based in an area far from the main sculptural foci, which is why, as we have already said, that the sculpture displays some somewhat backward elements for the period. We would like to thank Mr. Javier Baladrón, PhD in Art History, for identifying and cataloguing this sculpture.