Page 51 - The mystery of faith

The polychromy and the type of estofado decoration in the present
piece are very similar to the style used by Pedro de Raxis, who was
also known as ‘Padre de la Estofa’, and an artist, like his uncle,
who was the product of several generations of creative endeavour.
The family’s artistic interests began with the arrival in Spain of the
painter Pedro Sardo, an Italian, presumably from Sardinia, who
established himself in Alcalá La Real (Jaén) and had a dozen
children that used the paternal last name, Raxis, some of whom
went on to become painters or sculptors. His tenth son, Pablo, was
to become the most prosperous and would later change his last
name to Rojas. The majority of these artists began to settle in
Granada starting in the 1580s, where they established workshops.
The principal figures were the sculptors Pablo de Rojas and his
nephews Pedro and Gaspar de Raxis. The two Raxis brothers were
painters renowned for their skill in polychromy and their estofado
technique. Pedro remained in Granada, painting some of his uncle’s
sculptures, while Gaspar moved to Seville and executed the
polychrome on the renowned Infant Christ that Juan Martínez
Montañés carved for the Hermandad Sacramental del Sagrario in
Seville.

Pablo de Rojas was only rediscovered and revalued in the 1930s,
thanks to the research of Antonio Gallego Burín. His name was
only mentioned by Francisco Pacheco in Arte de la Pintura as the
master of Martínez Montañés, an artist who, like Rojas, was also Fig. 2
born in Alcalá la Real. Later Emilio Orozco, who continued an analysis of Rojas’ artistic personality,
added to the corpus of works attributed to the artist with a methodical formal analysis of his work, an
effective and useful contribution to our understanding of this artist, if however lacking in archival
evidence. Most recently Lázaro Gila Medina has been able to clarify the complex family tree of the
Raxis family and has also published documents relating to the painter and sculptor group
Sardo–Raxis–Rojas.5

The present reliquary still retains the original high-quality polychromy and estofado decoration on the
dalmatic, both of which are particularly beautiful features of the work. The painter recreated the
luxurious feel of the silk fabric, the weightiness of the garments and the volume of the embroidered
elements (particularly the ‘pompoms’ on the scapular), as well as the oval box, which originally housed
the relic, represented as if it were a great medallion hanging from the saint’s neck. Also depicted is an
elaborately knotted silken cord by which this medallion is suspended, and two gilded cords that issue
from a knot below the collar and separate to frame the oval space on either side before rejoining in a
thick tassel below. The painter has composed the face with sunburned tones combined with rosy cheeks
and the slight darkening of the budding beard.

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