Saint Anthony of Padua (?), articulated imagen de vestir

(Pedro de Mena)

ATTRIBUTED TO PEDRO DE MENA AND WORKSHOP
(Granada 1628 – 1688 Málaga)
8. Saint Anthony of Padua (?), articulated imagen de vestir
Wood, carved and polychromed
70 x 23 x 21 cm (27 ½ x 9 ⅛ x 8 ¾ in.)
The origins of the imágenes de vestir, or sculptures created expressly to be dressed in real
clothes, lie with the processional sculptures carried through the streets of Spanish cities
during Holy Week. Heads, hands and occasionally feet were carved and polychromed, with
the rest of the figure reduced to a rudimentary scaffolding that would be covered by often
elaborate garments. This type of sculptured figure was less costly for the confraternity that
commissioned it, and much lighter for the penitents struggling beneath the platforms bearing the holy
images. Although these images came to life within the sphere of popular religion, they were often
created by the greatest artists of the time, such as Juan Martínez Montañés’ Jesús de la Pasión (c. 1615;
Figs. 1, 2) or Juan de Mesa’s Cristo del Gran Poder (1620; Fig. 3). These images often had articulated
arms, both to facilitate dressing them and to make them iconographically flexible. Thus, Martínez
Montañés’ Jesús de la Pasión could both represent either Christ Carrying the Cross (Jesús Nazareno) o
standing with his arms crossed before him as an Ecce Homo. However, these dressed sculptures were
not limited to use as processional images, and they were extremely popular throughout the Hispanic
world. Shipments of the heads and hands of Christ, the Virgin Mary and a host of saints were even
exported to the Americas where they were given bodies and wardrobes.
This articulated imagen de vestir of a Franciscan saint may represent Saint Anthony of Padua. This is
suggested by the degree of movement in the arms, which is more than necessary for dressing the
sculpture. Once the sculpture was dressed, the arms could be moved to hold the book, the lily, and the
image of the Christ Child that are the iconographical markers for that saint. His downward gaze
(towards the Christ Child) would accord with this interpretation.
The refinement of the carved and polychromed parts of this sculpture and comparison with other works
by the artist strongly suggest an attribution to the Granadan sculptor Pedro de Mena (1628–1688). He
was first a pupil of his father Alonso de Mena, then, after his father’s death, he worked with the
sculptor Bernardo de Mora, who had moved to Granada in 1650. When Alonso Cano arrived in
Granada in 1652, Pedro de Mena began collaborating with him, creating four sculptures for the
Convent of the Guardian Angel after Cano’s designs (1656–1657). This project left an indelible stylistic
mark on Mena’s work, though he did not remain long thereafter in Granada.
In 1658 Mena was called to Malaga by the bishop and the cathedral chapter to complete the choir stalls
there with forty relief panels representing saints. The contract required Mena to move to Malaga where he established the workshop necessitated by the many commissions he received over the years.
Although he worked in Cordoba between 1673 and 1679, and was in Granada again around 1680, he
returned to Malaga, where he died in 1688.
Pedro de Mena is particularly noted for several types of religious sculptures that were repeated a
number of times in his workshop: the half-length Ecce Homo (Fig. 4; see cat. no. 7 here); the bustlength
Dolorosa (Sorrowing Virgin); and the standing figure of the Penitent Magdalene. As is the case
with the refined facial features of this Franciscan saint and the delicate tracery of the veins and tendons
in his hands, the works from Mena’s workshop are of consistently high quality. However, the areas of
the figure that are articulated and meant to be covered with clothing were undoubtedly assigned to the
workshop. Most of the sculptors active in the south of Spain during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries depended on large workshops for the production of the many commissions they received.