Page 208 - The mystery of faith

Fig. 1 Fig. 2a Fig. 2b

These similarities, not to say repetitions, almost make the attribution of Pardo’s Virgin appear
interchangeable with that of Bigarny, and in some cases this is more than just an impression. The
important sculpture workshops – such as those of Pardo and Bigarny – were at times tasked with
honouring a variety of commissions for identical objects. Therefore, the sculptors actually made models
of some of their most popular and in-demand compositions, either in wood or in moulded clay,
specifically to be used in their workshops as a guide for their apprentices in executing these
commissions so that no detail or aspect of their initial composition should be lost or diluted in the
manual transference that is inevitable in any large workshop.

The present relief is an important addition to the corpus of Pardo’s known work. Firstly, because it is
the only known example in walnut; and secondly, because it illustrates the strong stylistic ties Pardo
had to the work of his father. The work exhibits many details that derive directly from Bigarny’s
workshop but, equally, illustrates a palpable shift away from the superficiality of surface detail that
typified the earlier sculptor’s work, specifically a shift towards an active pursuit of beauty, elegance and
harmony of forms, and away from any shrill sense of expressionism.

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