Tota Pulcra

(Eugenio Gutierrez de Torices)

FRAY EUGENIO GUTIÉRREZ DE TORICES
(Madrid fl. 1653 – d.1709)
25. Tota Pulcra
Coloured wax relief on wood
35.3 x 28.9 cm (14 x 11 ⅜ in.)
Signed and dated upon a label, lower right: Fr. Eugeo ft. 1690
PROVENANCE: Gonzalo Mora Collection
According to Ceán Bermúdez,1 who based his biography of the artist largely on those written
by Álvarez Baena and Palomino, Eugenio Gutiérrez de Torices was born in Madrid and
entered the Monastery of La Merced in 1653. Apparently, he also subsequently spent some
considerable time at the Spanish court in Madrid, where documents attest not only to his
abilities as an artist, but also that his work found praise with the Bolognese painters, Angelo Michele
Colonna and Agostino Mitelli, who, between 1658 and 1660, at the specific request of Philip IV,
produced fresco decorations for the royal chambers. It is thanks to these accounts that we also know
that Torices spent part of his life in the Monastery of the Virgen de la Merced in Segovia. He died in
the year 1709, and while Ceán Bermúdez, Baena and Palomino all agreed on the importance of Torices’s
artistic legacy, hardly any examples of his work remain, apart from an unsigned – and rather inferior –
Saint Jerome in the monastery at El Escorial. There is also an unsubstantiated account of a signed and
dated work in El Espinar, and a subsequent attribution of a beautiful Adoration of the Magi in the
rooms used by Isabel Clara in the Monastery of El Escorial. However, according to an unpublished
account made by the conservator Dr Almudena Pérez de Tudela, this latter work is very similar to an
Adoration of the Shepherds, now in the Palace of La Granja, which is signed by the well-known
Neapolitan sculptor Catarina de Julianis, (active 1695–1742).2 Another signed and dated work by
Torices that was formerly in one of the royal palaces (now moved) illustrates the founding of the
Mercedarian Order; it is similar to the description of an autograph work depicting the same subject in
the Descalzas Reales Convent, Valladolid, and may indeed be the same work (Fig. 1).3 These
Mercedarian works are indicative of the artist’s recognized style, in which the fine and delicate
craftsmanship of his figures is enhanced by the beauty of his landscapes. The latter work appears to
have been inspired directly by Dutch engravings, as illustrated in a relief by Torices incorporated into
one of two pieces of furniture in El Espinar (Fig. 2), which is a literal translation of a signed work by
the seventeenth-century Amsterdam engraver Anna Maria Koker.4
Bermúdez, Baena and Palomino also noted the strong sense of naturalism to be found in Torices’s work,
particularly in his realistic depictions of animals, citing the minute detail in the furniture of the piece in
the Oratory of San Pedro de Nolasco, and the detailed instruments played by the angels included in the
aforementioned Valladolid work. Another important aspect of his style is his approach to architecture,
which, when not derived from northern models, as in the El Espinar relief (Fig. 2), were possibly
inspired by contemporary buildings. One example is the palace depicted in another relief at El Espinar, which recalls the facade of the old Alcazar in Madrid, albeit in a more sculptural manner than the
pictorial approach often used by sculptors when copying architectural elements from engravings.
The present work’s original provenance is unknown, and no specific reference to its creation is included
in the artist’s various biographies, nor anything that refers to its subject: Tota Pulchra, a precedent of
La Inmaculada. It is, however, signed and dated on an etiquette placed in the lower left hand corner –
Fr. Eugen ft. 1690 – with the Mercedarian blason in red, placed just above it on a rock. On the back
of the piece, a paper label inscribed in a seventeenth-century hand reads: ‘Fr. Eugenius Gutierrez de
Torices ordinis Bª Mª de Mercedes Redemptionis captiviorum in suo segobiensi monasteri fat. 1690’
(Fig. 3). This date is somewhat unclear and it is possible that it could be ‘1696’, which would make it
closer in date to the relief in Valladolid, which is also signed in the lower right – Fr. Eugen – with the
same Mercedarian insignia placed in the middle of the inscription, followed on the back of the work by
the word ‘fat’. According to Jesús Urrea, there is a second inscription on the verso of the Valladolid
piece which reads: ‘Fr Eugenius Gutierrez de Torices ordinis de Bª Mª de Mercedes Redemptionis
captiviorum in suo conventu segoviense fat Anno 1698’, and that, furthermore, one of the pieces in El
Espinar bears a similar inscription. Unfortunately, in the case of this last work, minor damages to the
piece now make it impossible to confirm whether the work maintains the signature and date of ‘1693’.
This date is just visible in a photograph taken of the work in 1990, in the space left by the figure of the
Madonna, which was by this date already lost. According to Casto Castellanos, this inscription reads,
albeit very faintly: ‘Fr. Eugenio Gutierrez de los F [illegible]… del monasterio segoviense 1690’,5 and is
placed above a drawing of the blazon.
A comparison of the relief in Valladolid (Fig. 1) and the furniture reliefs in El Espinar, specifically the
one depicting The Flight into Egypt (Fig. 4), which is among the better preserved examples, reveals several details that are shared by all these works. These details include the Virgin’s oval-shaped face,
with rounded cheeks, small features and a childlike expression, framed by long blond curls, which, in
the furniture relief, are partially covered by her mantle. Comparing the mantle in the Flight into Egypt
with that in the present work, we see the same thick, widely spread folds, which are used as a
counterpoint to the straighter channel folds of the Virgin’s tunic, here broken only slightly by her bent
knees. Also similar are the seraphim and cherubim, which are rendered in the present work with careful
attention to anatomy, if not perspective. Compare, for example, the cherub clutching what appears to
be small bunches of cloud, floating on the left by the Virgin’s feet, in the exhibited work with the cherub
in the same position in the Valladolid work. Other similarities include the treatment of the tree foliage,
and even the shape of the clouds that surround both Virgins.
Although the subject of the Tota Pulcra was widely known and depicted in countless works in various
media, it is Torices’s focus on specific aspects of the subject’s iconography that makes this work so
fascinating. Basically, this subject is represented by the figure of the Virgin placed standing or upright
in the centre of the composition under a crown of twelve stars, the tips of her feet resting upon the tail
of the Serpent. It derives partially from a passage in Genesis: ‘And I will put enmity between you and
the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel’
(Genesis 3:15), combined with another passage in the Book of Revelation that describes a heavenly
vision of: ‘… a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars
upon her head’ (Revelations 12:1). Torices depicted the Virgin with her eyes cast up to heaven, dressed
in a white tunic cinched with a dark red sash, her blue mantle rippling in airy waves, which delineate
her delicate silhouette. The mantle is particularly reminiscent of those included in the rich pictorial
series of Inmaculadas produced by later seventeenth-century Madrid artists, such as Mateo Cerezo and
José Antolinez among others. Torices nestled the figure of the Virgin in an aureole of clouds, surrounded by seraphim and cherubim, which as we have already noted are quite similar to those in
the Flight into Egypt from El Espinar, as well as the examples in the reliefs from the Descalzas Reales
Convent in Valladolid.
In much of the imagery attached to Laurentian litany, the specific interpretation of Marian symbols is
often rather strange, based as it was on passages in Genesis and the evangelical Revelations of Saint
John.6 In general, the sun appears in all Marian images, to symbolize how the Virgin Mary shines
splendidly upon all creatures. If the image of the Virgin were to be used in a monstrance, the mirror
would then also be seen as a reference to her role as the speculum justitiae. The inclusion of natural
motifs in a Marian subject, such as roses, palms, cypresses and fruit trees, could be used to allude to specific texts in the Laurentian litany, or those passages that foresee the Virgin, such as the Song of
Songs. More likely, however, as in the case of the present work, these Marian symbols are used to
enhance the overall composition, such as the tiny basilica, the walled garden and the walled tower that
are surrounded by equally small, but exquisitely detailed palm, orange and cypress trees. These
structures doubtless refer to the Domus aurea, the Foederis Arca (the Ark of the Convenant, that is,
Mary as the living shrine of the Word of God), and the Hortus Conclusus, all of which were wellknown
invocations of the Virgin Mary in Laurentian litany. Interestingly, the enclosed garden is directly
inspired by an engraving by Collaert after a work by Martin de Vos.7 The Flemish work was meant to
illustrate heavenly Jerusalem, but as it is used here the motif should be read in context of the passage
from the Song of Songs. The fountain, which is typical of those in Spanish gardens of the time, and the
walled tower appear to have been based on actual structures, and, as already noted, the inclusion of
accurate architectural details is a characteristic of Torices’s work. Indeed, the representation of the
Turris ebúrnea recalls the famous Torre de la Parada del Pardo in Madrid right down to the proportion
between its base and superstructure. Beneath the three structures slithers the Serpent in the foreground,
its beautifully modelled head – decidedly at odds with its infernal nature – propped upon the apple of
the Tree of Knowledge and at the precise level to indicate the aforementioned inscription which attests
to the author and its date of facture (Fig. 5 detail).
In addition to its beauty and quality, this work should also be valued as a rare example of a wax
sculpture by Eugenio Torices, preserved in such exceptional condition that it may in fact serve as a
signpost towards those works elsewhere that could also be from his hand. Equally, this work could also
help us to recognize the stylistic differences between his sculptures and those produced by other artists
working in this medium, such as José Calleja and others who were strongly influenced by Torices’s
work.

1 See J. A. CEÁN BERMÚDEZ, Diccionario histórico de los más
ilustres profesores de las Bellas Artes en España, 6 vols,
Madrid 1800, pp. 253–254.
2 We are grateful to Dr Pérez de Tudela for her generosity in
calling our attention to this work as well as to the existence
of the putative Saint Jerome in the Monastery of El Escorial.
3 J. J. MARTÍN GONZÁLEZ and J. PLAZA DE SANTIAGO,
‘Valladolid. Monumentos religiosos’ (included in the second
part of the volume), in Cátalogo Monumental de la
Provincia de Valladolid, XIV, Valladolid 1983, vol. CXIII,
no. 323.
4 M. M. ESTELLAMARCOS, ‘Obras maestras inéditas del arte de
la cera en España’, in Goya, no. 237, November/December
1993, pp. 149–160.
5 C. CASTELLANOS, El mueble del siglo XVII. España,
Portugal y Francia, Barcelona 1989, pp. 36–37. For an
image of the work in El Espinar, see also í, El Arbol de la
Vida. Edades del Hombre, exhibition catalogue, Segovia
Cathedral, Segovia 2003, p. 406. However, the transcription
of the inscriptions here do not correspond to those of other
authors nor with the inscription visible in the 1990
photograph taken in the process of the work’s restoration.
6 For a specific treatment of the subject of Tota Pulcra, see
M. TRENS, María. Iconografía de la Virgen en el arte español,
Barcelona 1946.
7 D.I.A.L. Decimal Index of the Art for the Low Countries
(Photocards), Rijksbureau voor Kunst Historie Documentatie,
The Hague 1968, photo no. 24842.
239
surrounded by seraphim and cherubim, which as we have already noted are quite similar to those in
the Flight into Egypt from El Espinar, as well as the examples in the reliefs from the Descalzas Reales
Convent in Valladolid.
In much of the imagery attached to Laurentian litany, the specific interpretation of Marian symbols is
often rather strange, based as it was on passages in Genesis and the evangelical Revelations of Saint
John.6 In general, the sun appears in all Marian images, to symbolize how the Virgin Mary shines
splendidly upon all creatures. If the image of the Virgin were to be used in a monstrance, the mirror
would then also be seen as a reference to her role as the speculum justitiae. The inclusion of natural
motifs in a Marian subject, such as roses, palms, cypresses and fruit trees, could be used to allude to
238
specific texts in the Laurentian litany, or those passages that foresee the Virgin, such as the Song of
Songs. More likely, however, as in the case of the present work, these Marian symbols are used to
enhance the overall composition, such as the tiny basilica, the walled garden and the walled tower that
are surrounded by equally small, but exquisitely detailed palm, orange and cypress trees. These
structures doubtless refer to the Domus aurea, the Foederis Arca (the Ark of the Convenant, that is,
Mary as the living shrine of the Word of God), and the Hortus Conclusus, all of which were wellknown
invocations of the Virgin Mary in Laurentian litany. Interestingly, the enclosed garden is directly
inspired by an engraving by Collaert after a work by Martin de Vos.7 The Flemish work was meant to
illustrate heavenly Jerusalem, but as it is used here the motif should be read in context of the passage
from the Song of Songs. The fountain, which is typical of those in Spanish gardens of the time, and the
walled tower appear to have been based on actual structures, and, as already noted, the inclusion of
accurate architectural details is a characteristic of Torices’s work. Indeed, the representation of the
Turris ebúrnea recalls the famous Torre de la Parada del Pardo in Madrid right down to the proportion
between its base and superstructure. Beneath the three structures slithers the Serpent in the foreground,
its beautifully modelled head – decidedly at odds with its infernal nature – propped upon the apple of
the Tree of Knowledge and at the precise level to indicate the aforementioned inscription which attests
to the author and its date of facture (Fig. 5 detail).
In addition to its beauty and quality, this work should also be valued as a rare example of a wax
sculpture by Eugenio Torices, preserved in such exceptional condition that it may in fact serve as a
signpost towards those works elsewhere that could also be from his hand. Equally, this work could also
help us to recognize the stylistic differences between his sculptures and those produced by other artists
working in this medium, such as José Calleja and others who were strongly influenced by Torices’s
work.
Fig. 5

Gonzalo Mora Collection