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Statuette - St Francis

St Francis

  • Object:

    Statuette

  • Place of origin:

    Spain (Andalusia, made)

  • Date:

    ca. 1700-1750 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Unknown

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Polychromed wood

  • Museum number:

    331-1866

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

This is a wooden statuette made in Spain in about 1700-1750. This statuette representing St. Francis is one of many versions of a larger work by Pedro de Mena in the Treasury at Toledo Cathedral. According to a fifteenth century account, St. Francis was miraculously seen standing in his tomb at Assisi, as he is represented here. Pedro de Mena, born Granada in 1628, was a pupil to Alonso Cano. In 1658 he transferred his studio to Malaga, where he died in 1688. He was one of the foremost sculptors of his generation in Spain.

Physical description

Wood carved and painted statuette of Saint Francis. He stands, hands clasped togehter in front of him, covered by sleeves of his robe. Right foot extended and bare. Eyes turned upward and mouth open slightly. He stands on a painted base.

Place of Origin

Spain (Andalusia, made)

Date

ca. 1700-1750 (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown

Materials and Techniques

Polychromed wood

Dimensions

Height: 50 cm

Object history note

Bought in 1866.

Descriptive line

Statuette, painted wood, St. Francis, after Pedro de Mena, Spanish (Andalusian), ca. 1700-1750

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

[Catalogue entries]The Golden Age of Spanish Art. Catalogue of the exhibition held Nottingham University Art Gallery, 1980.
Trusted, Marjorie. Spanish Sculpture: Catalogue of the Post-Medieval Spanish Sculpture in Wood, Terracotta, Alabaster, Marble, Stone, Lead and Jet in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 1996, pp. 64-67, cat. no. 24, pl. 8, fig. 4
Ceballos-Escalera, L. de. Segovia Monumental. Madrid, pp. 26, 30
Pedro de Mena y Castilla. cat. no. 33-36. Catalogue of the exhibition held National Museum of Sculpture, Valladolid, 1989-1990
Musèe du Louvre: Nouvelles Acquisitions du Dèpartment des Sculptures 1988-1991. Paris, 1992, pp. 50-53, cat. no. 15
Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1866.Inventory of Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., p. 28

Production Note

A copy of a larger work by Pedro de Mena (1628-1688).

Materials

Wood

Techniques

Carving; Painting

Categories

Sculpture; Christianity; Religion

Collection

Sculpture Collection

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