Page 264 - The mystery of faith

Francisco’s, as seen in several other works made during the 1740s.
These include the Inmaculadas in San Miguel (Fig. 4) and the Convent
of Justinianas, both in Murcia. Highly characteristic of Francisco is
the use of colour and the approach to estofado decoration that
emulated the textile fashions current from the first third of the
seventeenth century onwards. Possibly the Italianate borrowings may
have derived from knowledge of sketches and models left in the
workshop by Salzillo’s father, a fact confirmed by Sánchez-Rojas, and
later acknowledged by Isabella di Liddo in her analysis of the possible
figurative sources of Nicolás Salzillo.10

A tendency to recognize a possible Neapolitan source of inspiration in
this and other works is also considered by Domenica Pasculi. An
interesting comparison may be made with works by Giacomo
Colombo and Nicola Fumo (Fig. 5; Virgen de la Maravillas, Cehegín,
Murcia) and Di Liddo also recognized their influence in the final
version of the Dolorosa in Santa Catalina. Although they represent
two very different themes of Marian iconography, there are both
formal and stylistic parallels to be drawn between the exhibited
Fig. 4 sculpture and Fumo’s Assunta in Lecce Cathedral (1689; Italy).
Despite the fact that in both works the sculptors translated dynamism
into an open gestural composition, the Neapolitan element in
Salzillo’s work should be seen as more of a legacy from his father
rather than an indication of collaboration with Fumo, which in any
case the chronology of the present work would argue against.
Although the boceto in the Salzillo Museum may be considered the
only documented autograph version by Salzillo’s hand, there is
evidence to support the attribution of the exhibited Dolorosa and its
peers. There are notable changes and variations compared to the
initial bocetos. During the trial and error of the creative process
several things changed, probably conditioned by the requests of
different patrons who were all too ready to assert their individual
taste in terms of colour and dramatic intensity. The delicate silhouette
of this particular version bears no resemblance to the contours of the
boceto in the Dominican convent at Murcia, nor those of the
modellino in the Salzillo Museum, but Salzillo’s ‘genetic’ features are
nevertheless evident in all three works.

Without doubt, this sculpture shows just how Salzillo was able to
employ a previous successful model in order to promote a style, later
to be revised, which personalized the use of polychromy, based on

Fig. 5

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