Page 179 - The mystery of faith

The surface of the octagonal pedestal is painted with a marbleized green tone, and bordered by gilt
foliate moulding above a flat profile marbleized in white and black above a gilt cyma recta moulding.
The shape of the pedestal is similar to the version in Granada, which, however, possesses additional
foliate motifs on the sides and is set on volute feet. Here, the lower element of the pedestal may possibly
date from the eighteenth century as it appears simplified and lacks such Baroque elements as the bun
feet.

The polychromy of the exhibited Saint Joseph with the Child is typical of La Roldana, or indeed, her
brother-in-law, Tomás de los Arcos, who frequently collaborated with the sculptor in her commissions
in Seville, Cadiz and even Madrid. Lastly, one further element that confirms the authorship of La
Roldana is the modelling and polychromy of the saint’s mantle on the verso, which is identical to that
in the magnificent version in Antequera (Figs. 1, 7). This later version of Saint Joseph and the Child
dates from La Roldana’s late Madrid period between 1689 and 1706, and provides us with another
vibrant and touching example of this, one of her most iconic subjects.

1 J. L. ROMERO TORRES and A. TORREJÓN DÍAZ, Roldana, 6 J. GRACIÁN DE LA MADRE DE DIOS, Sumario de las
exhibition catalogue, Reales Alcázares de Sevilla, as part of Excelencias del glorioso San José Esposo de la Virgen María,
Andalucía Barroca, Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de book I, chap. 2, Toledo 1605.
Andalucía, Seville 2007, pp. 222–223.
7 A. MURO OREJÓN, Artífices sevillanos de los siglos XVI y
2 A. TORREJÓN DÍAZ, ‘Luisa Roldán, San José. Cádiz, Iglesia XVII, Documentos para la Historia del Arte en Andalucía,
de San Antonio de Padua’, in ROMERO TORRES and Seville 1932, p. 78.
TORREJÓN DÍAZ, Roldana cit., p. 186.
8 Marble, c. 340 BC., Olympia, Archaeological Museum.
3 J. L. ROMERO TORRES, ‘La Roldana y el Nazareno de Sisante’, This type became widely known throughout Europe from
in La imagen barroca: el Nazareno de la Roldana y el arte the early sixteenth century onwards through numerous
religioso en Sisante, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Italian and northern engraved studies often made in Rome
Cuenca 2009 (forthcoming publication). after Roman copies of the Classical original.

4 We reject an attribution to Luisa Roldán for the Saint Joseph 9 I. MATEO GÓMEZ, ‘La visión del mundo clásico en el arte
Walking with the Child in a Madrid private collection, español’, in Jornadas de Arte, Madrid 1993, vol. VI, pp.
because it is an Italianate sculpture from the middle of the 37–48.
eighteenth century, despite the firm opinion expressed by M.
V. GARCÍA OLLOQUI in her article, ‘Iconografía de San José 10 This was originally made in 1665 for the lectern of
con el Niño en dos obras de segura atribución’, in Espacio y Granada Cathedral and is now in the cathedral museum.
Tiempo, no. 19, Seville 2005, pp. 62–63. The sculpture is quite small-scale being only 45 centimetres.
Cano used a similar composition for a painting now in the
5 For a discussion of the subject of Saint Joseph in Spanish art, Archbishop’s Palace.
see F. PÉREZ-EMBID, San José en el arte español, exhibition
catalogue, Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid
1972.

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