Page 26 - The mystery of faith

Magdalene. José de Mora (1642–1724) continued the
tradition of realism, but his polychrome sculptures are
imbued with an intense pathos often enhanced by postizo
additions such as real hair and glass beads for tears.

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Fig. 11 B y the end of the sixteenth century it was common for
polychromed figures to have glass eyes15 and teeth and
Fig. 12 fingernails carved of horn. Sculptures by Gregorio
Fernández, such as the Cristo yacente (Valladolid, Church
of Saint Michael; Fig. 11), have added eyes, fingernails and
wounds. Sculptures intended to be carried in processions
were sometimes made lighter by having their garments
made of tela encolada, fabric dipped in gesso or glue and
shaped into naturalistic folds. Figures were represented
with carved heads and hands, but with simplified bodies
– such as in the Mena Franciscan in the current exhibition –
often nothing more than a bit of scaffolding, meant to be
dressed in real clothes. The additions of a real crown of
thorns, wigs of real hair, jewellery and so forth was decried
by theologians, but their popularity has never waned, and
it is not uncommon for a special cult image of the Virgin
Mary to have a vast wardrobe sewn for her by devoted
parishioners. Renaissance sculptors mastered human
anatomy, not only in the accuracy of proportions, but with
careful rendering of the musculature and the veins.
Polychromy added other possibilities: the vivid rendering
of bruises and wounds on the bodies of Christ and
martyred saints, bits of cork and sometimes even rubies
simulated coagulated blood. Glass or rock crystal tears
marked the face of the Dolorosa, the Sorrowing Virgin as
in the works by Rueda in the current exhibition.

Although the traditional use of gold in polychromy continued, there was a parallel use of plain colour
during the seventeenth century. Both mediums were used in the workshops of Valladolid in the time of
Gregorio Fernández, and, in the south, Alonso Cano and his follower Pedro de Mena used flat colours
to represent cloth. However, the sculptures by José Risueño, who was also a follower of Cano, are
remarkable for their luxurious estofado surfaces.16

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