Hand in Hand. Sculpture and colour in the Spanish Golden Age

Sections of the exhibition

1. Gods and Humans in Volume an Colour
2. Sculpture as a Form of Persuasion
3. Divine and Human Craftsmen and Intermediaries
4. Volume and Polychromy
5. Black Mourning Dress in a Play of Mirrors
6. Sculpture, Theatre and Processions
7. Coming Full Circle: From Designs to Trompe l'Oeil Portrayals of Sacred Figures

As theorist Antonio Palomino (1655–1726) praised the sculpture of Christ of Forgiveness, carved by Manuel Pereira and polychromed by Francisco Camilo, he ended with the following phrase: “And so painting and sculpture, taking each other by the hand, are a wondrous sight”. The uniqueness that the synthesis of volume and colour reached in the Early Modern Age within the context of the Spanish-speaking world, in unbroken continuity with classical tradition, is a riveting phenomenon that is key to understanding the role of artistic creation as a tool of persuasion.

The Greco-Latin sphere interpreted sculptural representation as an essential necessity. Divinity was embodied through its corporeal, protective and healing image, which enhanced its veracity when enveloped in colour, a crucial feature of life compared to the inanimate paleness of death. Benedictine Gregorio de Argaiz articulated it as such in 1677: “Each figure, however perfectly sculpted, is a corpse; it is the brush that gives it life, soul and spirit, and represents the affections of the soul. Sculpture shapes the tangible and palpable man […], but paint gives him life”.

Likewise, sacred sculpture was surrounded by supernatural connotations from the very moment of its execution. It was therefore associated with wonders and divine interventions, involving angelic workshops or craftsmen who had to have good moral readiness to perform a task that exceeded mere artistic activity, since what was created was ultimately a reproduction of the divine.

This exhibition aims to reflect on the phenomenon and success of coloured sculpture, which became incredibly prevalent in churches during the Spanish Golden Age and was greatly utilized to support preaching. The close, perfect collaboration between sculptors and painters reveals the great value of polychromy, which far from being a mere decoration of the piece, was an essential element of it and without which the work would remain unfinished.

Colour also significantly contributed to accentuating the dramatic values of these creations, both those intended for altarpieces and those for processional floats. Theatrical gestures, combined with the showiness of the clothing, whether sculpted, made of glued fabrics or real textiles, turned these ensembles into highly meaningful stage components.

Lastly, the exhibition also addresses other examples of the intertwining of the arts linked to painted sculpture, ranging from prints that helped disseminate the most popular devotions to the Passion veils that feigned altarpieces or paintings that, in a suggestive illusionist exercise, faithfully reproduced sculptural images on their altars.