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Lot Essay
The emotive terracotta figure of Christ offered here can, on the basis of style, be attributed to the Sevillian sculptor Francisco Ruiz Gijon. Perhaps the most relevant comparison attesting to the attribution can be made with the figure of the Crucified Christ in the Iglesia Patrocinio, Seville (Martin Gonzalez, loc. cit.) dating from circa 1682. With the Seville figure, as with the present lot, the artist has represented Christ with a similarly muscular torso, with a broad rib-cage, highly defined diaphragm and small pectoral muscles, and an unusually pronounced twist in the hips that creates a very dynamic and asymmetrical composition overall.
The author of the present figure used this asymmetry to great effect when applying the polychromy to the surface since the torso's shift to the right of the cross allowed for the extensively painted bloodied back to be more easily viewable. This fact may therefore suggest that the terracotta Christ was not intended to adorn an altarpiece but more likely used in a procession.
The author of the present figure used this asymmetry to great effect when applying the polychromy to the surface since the torso's shift to the right of the cross allowed for the extensively painted bloodied back to be more easily viewable. This fact may therefore suggest that the terracotta Christ was not intended to adorn an altarpiece but more likely used in a procession.