JOSÉ RISUEÑO

(1665 / 1732)

JOSE RISUEÑO Granada (1665) / (1732) "Saint John"

Carved and polychrome wood. Jose Risueño trained in the workshop of Diego de Mora, and in his sculptural works the influence of Alonso Cano is perceived, due to his careful polychromy, and Pedro de Mena, in his contained emotion, but advancing in greater exteriorization. of feelings. One of the most representative images of his production is that of Saint John the Baptist as a child, presented next to the lamb, of which there are a good number of specimens attributed to the sculptor and his workshop. A good example of its extraordinary plastic quality is the beautiful and delicate work presented here, representing Saint Juanito, which brings together all the sweetness of the best Granada school of sculpture. Its dimensions clearly indicate that it is a piece conceived for private devotion, a fact that has allowed better conservation of its original polychrome. The model follows the characteristics of the works that, with the same theme, were made by Risueño and his workshop, presenting an enormous formal parallelism in the position that the figure adopts with the specimen kept by the Monastery of Santa Paula in Seville, although , in this work, appears modestly covered with camel skin. Another similar example, although devoid of iconographic attributes, is preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. In them, compositionally, the movement that the sculpture presents with the body of Saint John in complete torsion stands out. His torso and arms adopt a turned position that shows the intention of hugging or picking up the lamb, while his head turns to the opposite side, directing his gaze to the ground. What stands out in all of them is the quality of their incarnations, with their folds and excellent polychrome, and the contour presented by the figure, common in Risueño, in which one of the saint's legs appears in a position to ascLate a rock sculpted in the base. Measurements: 26.5 cm. (32 cm. with crown)