Page 104 - The mystery of faith

JOSÉ RISUEÑO

(Granada 1665 – 1732)

9. Dolorosa

Wood, polychromed
118.5 cm (46 ¾ in.)
PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Madrid

Over the years, Baroque sculpture and sculptors have received increasing attention from
scholars and, in the case of José Risueño, we have Professor Domingo Sánchez-Mesa Martín
to thank for our knowledge of this artist’s biography, artistic technique, and even the social
and cultural milieu in which he developed his work.1

Thus, we know that his father, Manuel Risueño, was a ‘master carpenter’ and was well connected to
the cloth industry and its trade. José Risueño was raised in a family of woodworkers in the Sagrario
neighbourhood of Granada, an important centre for textile, silk and leather manufacturing, as well as
a centre for goldsmiths. This is a detail we will consider with some interest in our discussion of
Risueño’s studies and career, as they relate to the present Dolorosa.

He began his apprenticeship as a youth in his father’s workshop and was encouraged by his father to
go out and meet other artists working in Granada at the time. Risueño completed his training in the
workshop of José de Mora, and worked alongside Diego de Mora, in particular. It is because of the
evident influence that Mora exercised over Risueño’s formative style that he was often assessed as a
successor to Alonso Cano, Mora’s teacher, and it is true that Risueño drew from this inspiration and
integrated it into his work throughout his career. However, his preference for using live models and his
early predilection for working in clay provided his sculpture with a unique and very personal stamp.
He achieved equal fame as a painter, and, to a less degree, as an architect.2

While his artistic catalogue is ample, his documented works remain scarce. With respect to the present
Dolorosa the attribution to Risueño is supported by stylistic and technical analysis, in particular the
modelling and polychromy, as well as several details present in this work that are very specific to this
artist.

Sánchez-Mesa Martín divided Risueño’s career into three periods. We may ascribe the Dolorosa to the
artist’s third or late period, that is, between 1712 and 1732. We know that he sculpted in wood, clay,
stone and marble, but he apparently preferred pine for his wooden sculptures, such as in the present
work. The sculpture depicts Mary in her role as the Virgin of Sorrows, as she mourns the death of her
son, Jesus Christ, in the wake of his Passion and Crucifixion. This was a prominent subject in Baroque
sculpture, and one which demanded a high degree of pathos, even by the standards of the time. This
subject offered artists seemingly limitless opportunities for showcasing their talents for facial expression

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