Page 266 - The mystery of faith

FRANCISCO SALZILLO

(Murcia 1707 – 1783)

30. Saint Francis of Paola

c. 1750
Wood, polychromed and gilded
36 x 18 x 11.5 cm (approx. 14 ¼ x 7 x 4 ½ in.)
PROVENANCE: Juan Salas, Madrid; Enrique Pelta, Madrid

T his small, but exquisitely realized sculpture by Francisco Salzillo depicts Saint Francis of
Paula standing, and dressed in the heavy black cassock, hood and knotted girdle that
comprise the habit of the Minims, the hermetic order founded by the Italian mendicant friar
in the second half of the fifteenth century. Originally, Salzillo included several iconographic
details – the quadruple-knotted girdle, the rough-hewn crook, and the small lamb at the Saint’s feet –
to allude to Francis’s profound humility, and refusal to eat meat. The lamb specifically refers to the
many humble miracles that were this saint’s calling card, one of which tells of his having resurrected a
lamb from the bones he found carelessly tossed in a lime kiln by soldiers who had killed and eaten it.1
The face, in particular, is carved with great sensitivity and attention to detail, capturing both a sense of
this saint’s pilgrim soul and his advanced age. The carved vestments retain their original black and gold
estofado decorations. However, unfortunately now missing are the cord girdle (probably modelled in
glued fabric), and the small ostensorio, or scroll, which would have carried a charitable motto. The
latter would have been affixed to the chest or held in the right hand, and traces of the original inclusion
of these features can be detected at the waist.

Entirely frontal in pose, the sculpture was possibly meant to be displayed in a niche. Nevertheless, the
work is fully realized and throughout exhibits the highest level of detailing and craftsmanship, which
is one of the hallmarks of Salzillo’s sculpture. The delicacy of the carving in the drapery, which is
arranged in tidy folds, and the concordance of the beatific facial expression with the sensitive pose of
the hands are all recognized characteristics of this artist’s work. In addition, the sculpture’s excellent
condition affords us a rare opportunity to analyse Salzillo’s technique and approach to subject matter
unencumbered by re-paintings or later additions.

We know that Salzillo’s workshop employed the use of modelli, as both a didactic reference as well as
a formal tool. At this point, it should be clarified that in the Spanish Baroque period sculptors simply
did not believe that their reliance on, or formal adherence to, these models in any way limited their
artistic creativity. On the contrary, by providing them with the iconographic template that allowed them
to fulfil the dogmatic requirements demanded of their work, sculptors believed they had greater
freedom to exercise the expressive potential of their subjects. Equally, these models were, in some cases,
neither specific to a particular subject, nor strictly literal, and their adaptation to various sacris
personae illustrates the artistic continuity that existed amongst sculptors in eighteenth-century Seville.

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