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Lot Essay
This expressive corpus figure is typically Spanish in its use of polychrome decoration. The extreme realism created by the bleeding wounds is intended to heighten the empathy experienced by the viewer. The present example is unusual for the good state of preservation of the paint surface.
Gregorio Fernández was born in Galicia, but moved to Valladolid where he is first documented in 1606. His reputation grew rapidly, and he was soon being patronised by the nobility and the king, Philip III, himself. The latter commissioned a Reclining Christ in 1614, which remains in the convent of El Pardo to which the king gave it. Fernández was so widely admired, that at the time of his death he was considered to be the most gifted sculptor in Spain.
Comparison of the present figure of Christ to a corpus figure by Fernandez in San Marcelo, León, reveals a closely similar treatment of the anatomy. The very angular treatment of the perizonium in the León figure, also finds some echoes in the drapery on the present figure, although here it has been softened by several longer, sweeping folds. In addition, the tension created by the sagging form of the Leon Christ has been transformed into a triumphant Christ here. By placing Christ's shoulders marginally higher than where his hands are nailed to the cross, the figure is given a sense of weightlessness, and already suggests his divine ascension from the grave.
Gregorio Fernández was born in Galicia, but moved to Valladolid where he is first documented in 1606. His reputation grew rapidly, and he was soon being patronised by the nobility and the king, Philip III, himself. The latter commissioned a Reclining Christ in 1614, which remains in the convent of El Pardo to which the king gave it. Fernández was so widely admired, that at the time of his death he was considered to be the most gifted sculptor in Spain.
Comparison of the present figure of Christ to a corpus figure by Fernandez in San Marcelo, León, reveals a closely similar treatment of the anatomy. The very angular treatment of the perizonium in the León figure, also finds some echoes in the drapery on the present figure, although here it has been softened by several longer, sweeping folds. In addition, the tension created by the sagging form of the Leon Christ has been transformed into a triumphant Christ here. By placing Christ's shoulders marginally higher than where his hands are nailed to the cross, the figure is given a sense of weightlessness, and already suggests his divine ascension from the grave.