The Last Supper(Diego Jimenez II)
DIEGO JIMÉNEZ II (CIRCLE OF JUAN BAZCARDO)
(Navarre before 1660)
31. The Last Supper
c. first half of the 17th century
Wood, polychromed
36 x 98.5 x 2.5 cm (14 ¼ x 38 ¾ x 1 in.)
PROVENANCE: Enrique Pelta, Madrid
During the first half of the seventeenth century, numerous workshops located amongst the
frontiers of Rioja, Navarre and Álava produced sculptures for the local churches.1 One such
work is this vividly polychromed relief depicting The Last Supper, which came from a
Cabredo workshop in Navarre.
The Cabredo workshop was started by Pedro González de San Pedro (15601608), a pupil of Juan de
Anchieta. Juan Bazcardo entered his workshop and married one of his masters daughters, one of whom
in turn later married Diego Jiménez II. It was common practice at the time for provincial sculptors to
unite into dynasties bonded by family ties. They could then collaborate to secure and compete on large
commissions, under the aegis of the most senior artist.
The shape of this relief suggests that it originally formed part of an altarpieces banco, the level roughly
corresponding to that of the predella in Italian altarpieces. Jiménez skill as a sculptor is visible in the
way that he distributes the figures around the table and creates a convincing illusion of space within
the shallow relief. In the foreground two pairs of Apostles appear in animated conversation, while in
the background other Apostles appear in differing attitudes, which adds a lively sense of the anecdotal
to the scene. Some Apostles appear to listen carefully to the words of Jesus, while one sitting on the far
right-hand side looks at the viewer and tugs at his long and winding beard in a manner recalling that
of Michelangelos Moses. On the left a bald Apostle reaches for food, carefully watched by another who
sports a bushy beard and is nearly completely bald.
The Apostles are each rendered individually, yet of a piece, with emaciated faces, prominent noses,
bulging eyes and wavy beards, and hairstyles that feature a cowlick. The drapery folds of the clothing
are predominantly hard and angular, with the hems of the mantles open in wide curves.
Jiménez Romanist style is evident in the overall grandiosity of his composition and the general depiction
of figure types. All of northern Spain (an area that today covers the regions of Navarre, País Vasco, La
Rioja and north of Burgos) had splendid examples of Romanist sculpture, thanks to artists like Juan de
Anchieta and Pedro Arbulo de Marguvete (both in La Rioja). The latter artist is documented as having
collaborated on the altarpiece of Astorga Cathedral, under the supervision of Gaspar Becerra.2
Nevertheless, the naturalism that is evident in the present relief, the individualistic facial types and a use of hard-edged, angular folds are manifestly Baroque in
feeling. There are also some superficial references to
Gregorio Fernández work. Fernández was as equally
renowned for his commissioned work in this area as he
was for his joint works with the sculptor Pedro Jiménez
(from Viana, Navarre).3
The strong, almost caricatural, tendencies of the
Romanist style in this sculpture connects it to the work
of Juan Bazcardo. Born in Caparroso, Bazcardo settled
in Cabredo in the south-west of Navarre and worked in
the border towns of the País Vasco and along the
Navarran coast and in La Rioja. His works retain
significant elements derived during his five-year
apprenticeship with González de San Pedro. Some of
the human types in this relief here appear to stem from
models used by Bazcardo, even though there are clear
differences. For this reason the present relief should be
attributed to a sculptor in his circle rather than to the
master himself. Diego Jiménez II, a disciple of Bazcardo,
had a less painstakingly meticulous approach to detail
in some of his works, with a tendency to use less finely
modelled heads than his master and blunter and harder
folds in the drapery. This is apparent in some of their
jointly executed pieces, such as the altarpieces of La
Población de la Barca (Figs. 1a, b, c) and of Dallo, both
in Álava.4 Indeed, the present relief shows a more
cursory approach to the styling of the drapery folds
than is usual in the known pieces by Diego Jiménez II,
and this may be either the result of the artist having to
work on a small scale; or to the possibility that this is a
late work.
The polychromy presents a varied range of flat colours,
without gilded embellishments, except for some of the
borders of the mantles. This sober style of painting
indicates that the polychromy may have been executed
during the second half of the eighteenth century, thus
demonstrating a more Neoclassical aesthetic.
1 For studies pertaining to seventeenth-century Navarran
and Riojan sculpture, see G. WEISE, Die plastik der
Renaissance und des Frühbarock im Nördlichen Spanien,
Tubingen 1957; J. G. MOYA VALGAÑÓN, Hernando de
Murillas y la escultura del final del manierismo en la Rioja,
in Príncipe de Viana, 1968, pp. 29, and notes. J. G. MOYA
VALGAÑÓN ET AL., Inventario de Logroño y su provincia,
Madrid 1975, vol. I; J. M. RAMÍREZ MARTÍNEZ, Los talleres
barrocos de escultura en los límites de las Provincias de
Álava, Navarra y La Rioja, Logroño 1981; J. J. VÉLEZ
CHAURRI, El Retablo Barroco en los Límites de las
Provincias de Álava, Burgos y La Rioja, Vitoria 1990; J. M.
RAMÍREZ MARTÍNEZ, Retablos mayores de la Rioja, Logroño
1993; J. M. RAMÍREZ MARTÍNEZ and J. M. RAMÍREZ
MARTÍNEZ, La escultura en La Rioja durante el siglo XVII,
Logroño 1984.
2 J. A. BARRIO LOZA, La escultura romanista en La Rioja,
Madrid 1981; P. ECHEVERRÍA GOÑI, Renacimiento y
romanismo en la retablística de la Rioja Alavesa, in Rioja
Alavesa. Actas de las Segundas Jornadas de Estudios
Históricos de la Rioja Alavesa, Vitoria 2004; M. C. GARCÍA
GAINZA, La escultura romanista en Navarra. Discípulos y
seguidores de Juan de Anchieta, Pamplona 1969; S. ANDRÉS
ORDAX, La escultura romanista en Álava, Vitoria 1973; M.
C. GARCÍA GAINZA, Navarra entre el Renacimiento y el
Barroco, in Ponencia al XXIII Congreso Internacional de
Historia del Arte, Granada 1973, pp. 290 and notes.
3 For examples of these works, see N. ALONSO CORTES,
Datos para la biografía artística de los siglos XVI y XVII,
in Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia, vol. 80, p.
370; J. J. MARTÍN GONZÁLEZ, Escultura barroca castellana,
Madrid 1959, p. 145; M. C. GARCÍA GAINZA, La influencia
de Gregorio Fernández en la escultura navarra y
vascongada, in Boletín del Seminario de Arte y
Arqueología, XXXVIII, 1972, pp. 371 and notes.
4 For images of these retablos, see E. ENCISO VIANA,
Arciprestazgo de Laguardia, in Catálogo Monumental.
Diócesis de Vitoria, Vitoria 1967, vol. I; M. J. PORTILLA
VITORIA, La Llanada alavesa oriental y valles de Barrundio,
Arana, Arraya y Laminoria, in Catálogo Monumental
Diócesis de Vitoria, Vitoria 1982, vol. V, pp. 403404;
RAMÍREZ MARTÍNEZ, Los talleres barrocos de escultura cit.,
pp.3541.