Page 12 - The mystery of faith

middle of the seventeenth century a sculptor like Roldán was prepared to undertake the Painter’s exam
as a pintor de imaginería in order to assure his freedom of action.

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I n mounting THE MYSTERY OF FAITH: AN EYE ON SPANISH SCULPTURE 1550–1750 we do not attempt
to compete with the National Gallery loan exhibition, resplendent with masterpieces of painting from
the greatest museums, but it is our hope that this exhibition may serve to broaden the viewer’s
understanding of Spanish sculpture in a range of media, which here includes stone, wood and
polychrome terracotta.

‘If you can’t have faith, you must find things to believe in yourself, for a life without faith in something
is too narrow a space to live’ (George E. Woodbury)

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I n the translation of the original Spanish texts it was found necessary to make certain changes so that
they were the subject of editing, revision and in many cases expansion in order to conform to English
art historical terminology and usage as well as to our established house style. I would like to express
my thanks to all those academics who gave their time by making contributions that were incorporated
into this catalogue:

Cristóbal Belda Navarro 29, 30
Joan Bosch Ballbona 27
Margarita Estella Marcos 25
Ismael Gutiérrez Pastor 22, 24
Jesús María Parrado del Olmo 31
Jose Carlos Pérez Morales 7, 14, 15, 18
Aurora Pérez Santamaría 28
Rafael Ramos Sosa 12
Isabel del Río de la Hoz 19, 20, 21
Jose Luis Romero Torres 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17 & pp. 30-35, 53-61
Suzanne Stratton-Pruitt 8 & pp. 17-29
María Luisa Tárraga Baldó 9, 26
Luis Vasallo Toranzo 23

And also to Nicholas Penny and Xavier Bray for their encouragement and support; to Suzanne Stratton-
Pruitt and Jose Luis Romero Torres for their lively introductions and the essay on the Hermanos García;
to Pilar Pinto for her liaison with the Spanish authors of entries to this catalogue; to José Luis López
Linares for his direction and creation of a highly professional DVD film of the sculptures in this
exhibition; to our restorers Adelina Illán, Pilar Pigazo, Rafael Romero, but above all to Pablo Prieto for
undertaking an enormous number of conservation tasks in a six-month period; to Umberto Allemandi.