Burial of Saint Leocadia
1887. Oil on canvas.Not on display
Following early recognition with a third medal at the 1884 National Exhibition of Fine Arts for his work Dante, The Circle of Greed, Pla aspired to achieve definitive recognition at the National Exhibition of 1887 with The Burial of Saint Leocadia. This painting is from the collections of the Museo del Prado, where it was restored between 2007 and 2008. It is one of the most eloquent examples of the young painter´s path towards artistic maturity.
Cecilio Pla depicts dusk on the outskirts of the city of Toledo, some of whose buildings, such as a classical temple, are silhouetted against the background of the deep landscape, where a small group of Christians prepare to lay the body of Saint Leocadia to rest. She wears a white tunic, with ropes around her wrist and a faint glow around her head, a symbol of sanctity. The martyr´s body is wrapped in a shroud before being placed in the grave that her own followers have dug, as shown by the tools on the sides of the grave where part of the immaculate shroud falls. Next to the shroud appear a jar and a basin, common elements in the burial representations of other saints or of Christ himself, a cross, an unmistakable sign of faith and an attribute of this saint, and a palm, a prize reserved for those who have attained the glory of heaven after having given their lives for Christ. Men and women gather around the martyr and her tomb in groups of different ages. In addition to the reverence shown for the holy body by those kneeling, there is the melancholy and sadness of the women, and the fear that seems to be reflected in the vigilant attitude of the young man who stands with one end of the shroud in his hands. In contrast to the technique consistent to some of the figures, mainly in their clothing, and the broad, loose brushstrokes influenced by those of his master Sala in others, the landscape and sky are resolved with large patches of colour, with an undone technique and little material, occasionally exposing the preparation.
The Burial of Saint Leocadia is a crucial work in Cecilio Pla´s path towards his own artistic maturity and in the configuration and formation of his own style, endowing the painting with another particular value. Fernanflor and other critics agreed that it was an improvement and a change of register with respect to the Dante, and they valued positively this ease of change.
Martínez Plaza, P.J., El Entierro de Santa Leocadia de Cecilio Plá. Boletín del Museo del Prado, Madrid, Museo del Prado, 2011, p.134-145 [135], il. 1
