SEGUIDOR DE JOSÉ DE RISUEÑO, (Escuela granadina,... Lot 769

SEGUIDOR DE JOSÉ DE RISUEÑO, (Escuela granadina, S. XVIII) Saint Cecilius Martyr Polychrome terracotta 39 x 29 x 46 cm In the field of Andalusian imagery, the sculpture in terracotta and polychrome reached a great relevance especially in Granada from the teaching of Alonso Cano, who used to use this material to make his sketches, and the special dedication to it that different image makers had, highlighting undoubtedly the figure of José Risueño. Trained as a sculptor with the Mora family and as a painter with Juan de Sevilla, he occupies a privileged place in the Spanish plastic arts at the end of the Baroque period, with a multitude of followers emerging around his figure, such as the author of the present sculpture. Its closed composition with an evident pyramidal scheme, the meticulous and detailed modeling, the contrast between the smooth and soft surfaces of the anatomies as well as the use of a sober polychromy indicate the author of this work as a follower of the master. _x000D_. Made in terracotta, in the composition we can see St. Cecilius in a white tunic while two soldiers carry him to the oven excavated in the ground of Mount Illipulitano where he is martyred. In the foreground, on the right, we can see how the saint has been stripped of his miter and his pluvial cloak, thrown on the ground. The city of Granada experienced throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the recovery and exaltation of St. Cecilius as the first bishop and patron saint of the city, thanks to the discovery of the relics that gave rise to the foundation of the Abbey of Sacromonte. The story of St. Cecilius goes back to the medieval tradition of apostolic men, which tells how Torcuato, Tesifón, Indalecio, Segundo, Eufrasio, Cecilio and Hesiquio had been ordained bishops by St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome, and then sent to evangelize Betica. Cecilius preached in Ilíberis, later Envira, at that time the ancient Granada. The Codex Emilianense 992 indicates St. Caecilius as the first bishop of the diocese of Granada on the occasion of the celebration of the Council of Elvira (ca. 300-324). The discovery of his relics meant for Granada not only an opportunity to ratify its Christian origin, but also, according to the findings, placed St. Cecilius as a direct disciple of St. James. _x000D_ All Granada, with its archbishop Don Pedro de Castro at the head, began an intense campaign of credibility and deep devotion to this bishop martyred in the time of the Roman emperor. It is not surprising, then, that the theme chosen for the realization of this sculpture is precisely the bishop's martyrdom.