Page 239 - The mystery of faith

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 well-
known 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 5 C. CASTELLANOS, El mueble del siglo XVII. España,
ilustres profesores de las Bellas Artes en España, 6 vols, Portugal y Francia, Barcelona 1989, pp. 36–37. For an
Madrid 1800, pp. 253–254. image of the work in El Espinar, see also í, El Arbol de la
Vida. Edades del Hombre, exhibition catalogue, Segovia
2 We are grateful to Dr Pérez de Tudela for her generosity in Cathedral, Segovia 2003, p. 406. However, the transcription
calling our attention to this work as well as to the existence of the inscriptions here do not correspond to those of other
of the putative Saint Jerome in the Monastery of El Escorial. authors nor with the inscription visible in the 1990
photograph taken in the process of the work’s restoration.
3 J. J. MARTÍN GONZÁLEZ and J. PLAZA DE SANTIAGO,
‘Valladolid. Monumentos religiosos’ (included in the second 6 For a specific treatment of the subject of Tota Pulcra, see
part of the volume), in Cátalogo Monumental de la M. TRENS, María. Iconografía de la Virgen en el arte español,
Provincia de Valladolid, XIV, Valladolid 1983, vol. CXIII, Barcelona 1946.
no. 323.
7 D.I.A.L. Decimal Index of the Art for the Low Countries
4 M. M. ESTELLA MARCOS, ‘Obras maestras inéditas del arte de (Photocards), Rijksbureau voor Kunst Historie Documentatie,
la cera en España’, in Goya, no. 237, November/December The Hague 1968, photo no. 24842.
1993, pp. 149–160.

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