Espagne milieu du XVII° siècle, très probablement Valladolid

Lot 62
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Estimation :
20000 - 25000 EUR
Espagne milieu du XVII° siècle, très probablement Valladolid
Polychrome ivory, original mounting with front feet added L 23 cm Just come down from the cross, the body of Christ has not yet been cleaned or prepared for burial, the blood is still flowing from the wounds he received. His eyes are half-closed and his mouth ajar. Bones, veins, and joints show through the flesh. This macabre realism is attenuated by the softness of expression and the suppleness of the lines. The artist invites us to focus on an outraged body that life has just left. In line with the ideas of the Council of Trent, the contemplation of the work should allow the viewer to associate himself with the suffering endured by Christ. The design of our statuette follows in the footsteps of that of the dead Christ in painted wood from the Prado (inv. E-576), executed by Gregorio Fernandez (1576-1636) around 1625-30, and deposited in the Museo Nacional Colegio de San Gregorio in Valladolid. With the exception of a few variations, our ivory has the same iconographic type of Christ lying dead, and possesses the strong expressive charge dear to the Spanish Baroque. It is worth emphasizing the extreme rarity of this iconography in this material, as we have not yet found any other version of this theme in ivory. No doubt this is the specific request of a wealthy patron for his personal devotion. Comparative bibliography: - Xavier Bray, The Sacred Made Real, Spanish Painting and Sculpture 1600-1700. National Gallery Company 2009 - Marjorie Trusted, Spanish Sculpture in the V&A Museum, 1996
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