Escuela castellana; siglo XV

Castilian school; 15th century.
"Virgin of Calvary".
Carved and polychromed wood.
It presents faults in the polychromy.
Measurements: 84 x 33 x 20 cm.
The Virgin of Calvary is the invocation of the mother of Christ witnessing the torture and death of her son. This devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin has its roots in medieval times, and was especially spread by the Servite order, founded in 1233. This iconography is characterised by depicting Mary alone, with her gaze raised towards the figure of Christ on the cross, her eyes filled with tears and an expression of deep sorrow on her face. This is a very frequent theme in sculpture intended for private devotion, as can be seen in this example, which is clearly devotional not only because of its subject but also because of its format. In this type of work, the clear, balanced and simple composition we see here will be common, preventing the viewer's gaze from straying from the face that is the main subject of the work.
The Spanish sculpture of the 15th century is framed in a particular moment, as three events marked the destiny of European and Spanish history: the end of the Reconquest, the discovery of the "new world" and the constitution of the Spanish Empire under Charles I. This period of great Spanish influence had an immediate effect on the flourishing of the arts, especially sculpture. This discipline was characterised by a special fusion between a very particular local Gothic style with its marked expressionism and two external factors; on the one hand, the spectacular technique of the artists from Northern Europe who came to Spain to carry out commissions for the Church, and on the other hand, the search for classical Italian ideals. Although the representation of sacred art has accompanied Christianity since the earliest times, after the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church, in response to the Lutheran Reformation, decided to promote the plastic arts in order to attract the attention of the faithful, and later developed in a superlative manner during the Baroque period.

Presenta faltas en la policromía.