Granada School; second half of the 17th century. "Saint... Lot 96

Granada School; second half of the 17th century. "Saint Francis". Carved and polychrome wood. Measurements: 75 x 28 x 28 cm. This sculpture represents Saint Francis of Assisi standing and dressed in the Franciscan habit. It is a work that follows the aesthetic precepts of Pedro de Mena y Medrano. During his career he worked on several occasions on the representation of Saint Francis, producing two different representations. One shows the saint dead but incorrupt, standing, with the habit of the hood over his head and his hands hidden by the sleeves, as he was seen when Pope Nicholas V visited his crypt in the church of Assisi, as can be seen in this work. The other version shows the saint alive and meditating on a crucifix. The first iconography, to which this piece corresponds, was carved by Mena in high relief on the choir stalls in Malaga Cathedral between 1658 and 1660 and in a free-standing version on the half-length sculpture in Toledo Cathedral. Pedro de Mena was the son of the sculptor Alonso de Mena, whose workshop was the most important in Granada until the arrival of Alonso Cano. Trained with his father, after his father's death he remained in charge of the workshop and worked together with Bernardo de Mora. During this period he made four sculptures for the church of San Matías in Granada, the Sagrada Familia de los Capuchinos in the same city, and the San Antonio in the Municipal Museum in Malaga. He later worked with Alonso Cano after the latter moved to Granada in 1652. He carved four large sculptures of saints commissioned from Cano for the convent of the Guardian Angel and also a Conception for the parish church of Alhendín in the fertile plain of Granada. Later, in 1658, he left for Malaga due to the commission to make the choir stalls of the cathedral choir, which had been designed in 1633 by Luis Ortiz de Vargas, who began the carving but left it unfinished. José Micael y Alfaro continued the work, but in the end it was Mena who did most of the work, carving the forty-three missing panels and the crowning of the choir stalls. In this work he showed his great technical skill and his ability to create a great variety of faces, types and compositions. In 1662 he travelled to court at the request of John Joseph of Austria. On this brief trip he also visited Toledo. For Don Juan José he carved a sculpture of the Virgin of Pilar with Saint James the Apostle at the foot. In Madrid he also made a Crucifix for Prince Doria, which was sent to Genoa. In Toledo he carved the St. Francis in the Cathedral Treasury, which is one of his most important works. Small in size, as was customary in Granada art, he is shown standing upright, with his head slightly raised and his eyes turned towards the sky. He was appointed sculptor of Toledo Cathedral. Near the end of his journey he began Magdalena penitente (Prado) in Madrid, which he completed on his return to Malaga. There he set up an important workshop and produced numerous works. Around 1666 he produced, for the convent of Santo Domingo in Malaga, the Virgin of the Crib and a Crucifix, an unusual iconography for Mena, who was not in the habit of depicting sorrowful themes.