Statuette of a saint, possibly and apostle, carved, painted and gilt pinewood, workshop of Alonso Berrugete, Valladolid (Spain), ca 1526-32

Statuette of painted and gilt walnut possibly depicting an Apostle. The figure is bearded and standing with his weight on his right foot, the other foot resting on a small block. He is turning his head to his left, his left arm half-outstretched, while his right hand holds the remains of what might be a scroll, tablet, or book, the rest of which may have been supported by his outstreched left hand. His robes, reminiscent of classical dress, are paitned and gilded in the estofado technique.

Bought of Perez Minguez in Valladolid, £5 5s. 3d.This statuette is from the retablo mayor of the conventual church of San Benito at Valladolid. The altarpiece was dismantled in the mid-nineteenth century, and its sculptural elements, with the sole exception of this statuette are today exhibited in the Museo Nacional de la Escultura at Valladolid. The figure probably stood originally in the niche immediately to the right of the tabernacle in the bottom register of the altarpiece.

Historical significance: The son of the painter Pedro Berruguete (d. 1494), who worked at the court of Urbino, Alonso Berruguete was one of the foremost Spanish artists of the sixteenth century. Berruguete spent some years in Italy (mainly Rome and Florence), from about 1506 onwards, and returned to Spain by 1517. His subsequent work shows he had learned from the work of Michelangelo, as well as recently excavated antique sculpture, such as the Laocoon.

This statuette is from the retablo mayor of the conventual church of San Benito at Valladolid

This figure, probably representing an apostle, formed part of the altarpiece of S. Benito in Valladolid in Spain, where it was placed on the banco, the lower part. The remainder of the altarpiece, which was dismantled in the 19th century, is in the National Museum of Sculpture in Valladolid. Alonso Berruguete was one of the most important sculptors active in Castile in the first half of the sixteenth century. He spent time in Italy before returning to his native Spain, and the influence of Italian renaissance sculpture is evident in this figure.

249-1864