Page 52 - The mystery of faith

This sculpture was made specifically for contemplation in certain ceremonies and because it is carved
and decorated in the round, including the polychromy, we may suppose that it was intended to be
carried in processions, and viewed from any angle. On the back of the saint is a complexly knotted
arrangement of the silken cord which is divided into two levels with three tassels each. The polychromy
of the dalmatic is of a rosy tone over a gilded layer with floral motifs painted with the point of the brush
in a variety of colours (green, red, blue, yellow, white, greys, pinks, violet, and so on). Special
importance is given to the painted decoration of the sleeves and the back of the collar. The pedestal is
a simple horizontal platform, of modest height, with a narrow, flat, sunken edge over a gilded cavetto
moulding. The gilded tones of the mouldings predominate, with the exception of the greenish tones on
the top of the pedestal, and in the painted floral decoration which, despite the perfect state of the
gilding, is not continued on all four sides.

The inscrutable expression of the face and rigid pose are relieved only at the breast by the different
curved shapes intertwined on the reliquary box, the circles, the handkerchief, the painted embroidery,
all of which may have been incorporated specifically to attract the eyes of the faithful to the relic. The
entire purpose of this sculpture was to enhance and recall the religious contemplation of the saint by
presenting a fragment of his human remains in order to make history a reality for the faithful.

1 F. CHECA, Felipe II, mecenas de las artes, Nerea, OROZCO DÍAZ, ‘La estética de Montañés y su formación
Madrid–Toledo 1992, pp. 284–290. granadina’, in Martínez Montañés (1568–1649) y la
escultura andaluza de su tiempo, Madrid 1971; M. PÉREZ
2 J. LUIS ROMERO TORRES, ‘Relicario de San Eutiquio, c. LOZANO, ‘Pintura de Pedro Raxis en la Asunción de
1600’, in San Isidoro del Campo (1301–2002), Fortaleza de Villacarrillo’, in Apotheca, no. 5, Cordoba 1985, pp. 79–87;
la espiritualidad y santuario del poder, exhibition catalogue, L. GILA MEDINA, ‘Los Raxis: importante familia de artistas
Consejería de Cultura, Santiponce (Seville) 2002, pp. del Renacimiento andaluz. A ella perteneció el gran escultor
302–304. Pablo de Rojas’, in Archivo Español de Arte, no. 238,
Madrid 1987, pp. 167–177; L. GILA MEDINA, ‘En torno a los
3 D. SÁNCHEZ-MESA MARTÍN, ‘La escultura’, in El libro de la Raxis Sardo: Pedro de Raxis y Pablo de Rojas en la segunda
Catedral de Granada, Granada 2004, vol. I, p. 454. mitad del siglo XVI’, in Atrio, Seville 1992, vol. IV, pp.
35–48; F. MARTÍN ROSALES and F. ROSALES FERNÁNDEZ,
4 Ibid. Pablo de Rojas. Escultor de Imaginería. Maestro de Juan
Martínez Montañés, Alcalá La Real Ayuntamiento, Jaén
5 A. GALLEGO BURÍN, ‘Pablo de Rojas, el maestro de 2000.
Martínez Montañés’, in Homenaje a Martínez Montañés,
Seville 1937; A. GALLEGO BURÍN, El Barroco granadino,
Granada 1956; M. E. GÓMEZ-MORENO, Escultura del siglo
XVII, colección Ars Hispaniae, Madrid 1963, vol. XVI; E.

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