THE SCHOOL OF ANDALUSIA--JUAN MARTINEZ MONTAÑÉS--SEVILLE AND ITS
SCULPTORS
The Andalusian school of sculpture was an offshoot from the school of
Castile and Aragon, though in some respects its history was different.
The reason of its late development is not difficult to find. In Southern
Spain the Moorish influence was stronger and more enduring than in the
North; and for all their secular buildings the Spaniards adopted Moorish
designs and Moorish methods of decoration. The Alcázar of Seville, in
its original state before alterations, and the Casa de Pilatos, are very
pure _mudéjar_ monuments. There was no abrupt transition between the
Persian architecture and the classic style of the Renaissance. It was in
the churches alone that opportunity arose for the development of
Christian architecture. We find Roman or Gothic structures according to
the epochs of their building. But even the churches retained the minaret
in the form of clock-towers, and other Moorish features, as, for
instance, the Puerta del Perdon of the Cathedral of Seville.
It was the erection of these Christian edifices that brought the
opportunity for the opening of studios of sculpture. Native carvers
arose, who at first drew their inspiration from the more advanced art of
the North. Then the fifteenth century opened with the building of the
great Cathedral of Seville, an event which drew foreign artists to the
Southern capital from Flanders and also from Italy. These foreigners
trained worthy native pupils, and from this time we may date the rise
and importance of the Sevillian school.
One of the first foreigners to arrive was Lorenzo de Mercadante, a
Breton, whose power speaks in the monument of Cardinal Cervantes, in the
cathedral, the earliest perfect portrait-statue in Southern Spain. In
the cathedral, which is a veritable museum of polychrome art, we find
graceful and charming statues, which show the influence of Mercadante.
We may mention the beautiful Virgen de Madroñe (Virgin of the arbutus
flower) and the Virgen del Reposo; both statues are polychromed, but the
latter work has been to a large extent ruined by injudicious
restoration. These Virgins are fine examples of the ideal treatment,
expressing genuine beauty with dignity and sweetness, which the native
artists achieved in representing the Mother of God. Spain is the land of
the Blessed Virgin.
To the teaching of Lorenzo Mercadante we owe the native artists Nufro
Sánchez and Maestro Dancart, the earliest of the Sevillian carvers, who
were appointed master sculptors to the cathedral at an annual salary of
10,000 _maravedis_. Their first work was the choir-stalls, which were
begun in 1475 by Sánchez, and finished by Dancart in 1479. Of this work
Professor Carl Justi says “its vein of invention and humour recalls the
South German masters.”
Four years later Dancart was entrusted with the important work of
erecting the grand altar of the cathedral (Plate 134). He executed the
design, but the work was carried out by his pupils Marco and Bernardo de
Ortega. The latter artist worked at the screen until his death in 1505,
when the completion of the work was left to his son Francesco and to his
grandson Bernardino. Gomez Oroco, George and Alexis Fernando Aleman, and
Andres de Covarrubias also worked at different parts of the screen. In
1519, when the work was completed, the canons, for some reason not
known, employed a pupil of Fernando Aleman named Moya to modify the
design. He was three years over the work, which he finished in the
autumn of 1564. Some years later two wings were added, and the screen
was finally completed in 1564. This mixed authorship was a mistake, and
has resulted in a want of continuity in the design which has marred to
some extent the beauty and harmony of the work.
Of more importance are the carvings of Pedro Millan, a pupil of Nufro
Sánchez, who takes rank as the first really important master of the
Sevillian school. The date of his birth is unknown. We hear of him first
in the year 1505, when he executed the statues for the cimborium of the
cathedral, which unfortunately were destroyed when the copula fell on
December 28, 1512. Pedro worked in the style of the Burgundian masters,
and his carvings show a genuinely creative talent, united with a true
study of nature. To him we owe the statues in terra-cotta known as the
Baptismo and the Nacimiento, which are outside two of the cathedral
doors. The heads and hands are most beautifully modelled and the
draperies are skilfully handled to display the figures. The bas-relief
inserted in the pointed spandrel between the first ribs of the
flying-arch, which represents the Adoration of the Magi, is also the
work of Pedro Millan. But his best-known statue is the noble Virgen del
Pilar, in the Capilla de Nuestra Señora del Pilar. M. Marcel Dieulafoy
believes that this is an earlier work than the terra-cotta bas-reliefs.
Its importance is great on account of the polychrome, the original
colours having been most carefully preserved. The flesh-tints are
beautiful, delicate rose-shades on the cheeks, lips, and ends of the
fingers. The robe shows reflections of pale gold, and the mantle, of the
same tint, has arabesques of brown, while the veil is in full gilt.
Besides these works in the cathedral, there are two statues of Pedro’s
in private collections in Seville, and one is a masterpiece. This is the
small polychromed statuette of St. Michael in the possession of Don Jose
Gestoso y Perez. Like most of this artist’s works, it is executed in
terra-cotta. It bears the signature of Pedro Millan in Gothic
characters. The other statue group is a Pietà, in which the Virgin, Mary
Magdalen, and St. John mourn over the body of Christ. It is in the
gallery of Don Lopéz Cepero, y 7, Plaza de Alfaro. Unfortunately it has
been painted a horrible stone colour and quite disfigured. Pedro Millan
also furnished the models for the small terra-cotta figures on the
beautiful portal of Santa Paula, which were executed by Niculoso of
Pisa, the author of the curious altar in terra-cotta in the Alcázar.
It was about this period that the Italian influences of the Renaissance
began to be felt in Andalusia. Artists were attracted to Seville by the
growing opulence of the city. Besides this, Italian works of art were
brought to decorate the palaces of the nobles. Vasari, for instance,
tells us Luca del Robbia sent several of his works to the Spanish king
for his Southern capital, and he speaks also of a large bronze
bas-relief, representing a fight between nude men, the work of Antonio
Pallando, which had the same destination. But the old Flemish traditions
were very deeply rooted, and remained longer active here than in the
Northern schools of Castile and Aragon. Thus a style arose that united
the two sources of inspiration.
The oratory and screen of Isabella la Catolica in the Alcázar are
interesting examples of the expression of this double influence (Plate
135). They are the work of Francisco Niculoso Pisano, an Italian artist
who settled in Seville, and whose work was of importance in directing
the art of the sixteenth century; the altar bears his inscription,
“Francisco Niculoso me fecit,” with the date 1503. The principal parts
of the altar and also the screen are in very pure Italian style, but
the panel above the altar, as well as some details of the decoration,
show clearly the old Spanish traditions founded on the Flemish methods.
This may be explained as M. Marcel Dieulafoy suggests, if we accept the
theory that the Italian master employed his colleague Pedro Millan to
assist him in the execution of the work.
Another foreigner who helped in the introduction of Italian art to the
native workers of Seville was Miguel, known as “the Florentine,” who
worked with the wood-carvers in the cathedral. Afterwards, in the last
years of the fifteenth century, Miguel executed the tomb of Mendoza,
Archbishop of Seville. After the completion of this work, which gained
much admiration, Miguel was constantly employed by the chapter, and he
remained working in Seville until his death in the middle years of the
century, when his position was taken by his son Micer Antonio
Florentine, an artist of even greater talent than his father. Among
Miguel’s works are the statues of St. Paul and St. John at either side
of the Puerta del Perdon, and the bas-relief above representing Christ
turning the Money-changers out of the Temple (Plate 136), and also the
life-size terra-cotta statues on the enclosure of the Capilla Mayor.
But the most famous of the Italian sculptors of Seville is Pietro
Torrigiano, the disciple and rival of Michael Angelo. Torrigiano was
born at Florence in the year 1470, and his work early proclaimed him a
master. It is recorded that in a fit of rage he broke his rival’s nose
with his fist, and as a result of this act of jealousy he had to flee
from Italy. For a time he adopted the calling of a soldier, but, angered
at not gaining promotion, he again took up his chisel. We hear of him
next in England, where he gained fame and wealth by his chapel of Henry
VII. in Westminster Abbey. But Torrigiano’s roving disposition again
sent him wandering, and he went to Spain, first to Granada, where he
competed for the order to execute the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella,
but, being unsuccessful, he came to Seville, in which city he finally
settled. He died in 1522 in a dungeon of the Inquisition, which Vasari
says was due to his smashing in a fit of rage a statue of the Virgin,
ordered by the Duke of Arcos, because he considered the payment
insufficient. But Cean Bermudez, though he does not deny the story,
states that Torrigiano was charged with heresy.
The influence exercised in Seville by this great Italian was
far-reaching, and his statues, though few in number, were the models
from which the native workers drew their inspiration. In style
Torrigiano closely resembled Michael Angelo. We owe to him the statue of
the Madonna (Plate 137) and that of St. Jerome (Plate 138), which were
executed for the Convent of San Jerónimo, but are now in the museum. The
figures are in terra-cotta, and are splendidly modelled, and both are
polychromed. The tints used are simple, and harmonious to the model. The
face and hands of St. Jerome are a brownish tone, as we should expect in
one exposed to the action of the sun; the draperies are of a light red
brown. The flesh tints of the Madonna and her child are charming; she
wears a rose-coloured robe with a mantle of light blue, grey lined, and
with a gold border. To Torrigiano we owe also the fine medallion in
marble on the front of the Church of La Caridad, and another on that of
the Jesuits. M. Marcel Dieulafoy ascribes to Torrigiano the statue of
St. Jerome, now at Granada, in the Church of Santa Ana. It is a fine
piece of sculpture, but the polychrome has been destroyed through want
of care.
After the death of Pedro Millan and Torrigiano we find in Seville a band
of capable artists, though none are equal in merit to Gregorio
Hernandez, who at the same time was working in Valladolid. At their
head stands Micer Antonio Florentine, who, on the death of his father
Miguel, took charge of his studio, and continued to direct the
activities of the Sevillian sculptors. The best known of his own works
was the Good Friday monument for the cathedral which he designed,
modelling its statues with his own hands. His contemporary, Bartoloméo
Morel, was the author of the statue of Faith Triumphant which crowns the
Giralda Tower (Plate 139), and also of the celebrated Tenebrario of the
cathedral of which Cean Bermudez says “that it is of its kind the finest
piece of sculpture in Spain.” In this work collaborated Pedro Delgado, a
capable artist, and the favourite pupil of Antonio Florentine. Pedro
Delgado himself had many pupils. Among them were Juan Bautista Vasquez,
one of the many artists who worked on the altar-screen of Toledo
Cathedral, and Juan Giralte, a Flemish carver, who seems to have
executed much work, but whose history is unknown.
Jerónimo Hernandez was an artist of higher merit. Though he was a pupil
of Pedro Delgado, he drew his inspiration from Torrigiano. This explains
the attribution of the St. Jerome of the cathedral to the Italian
master. But this fine sculpture is undoubtedly the work of Jerónimo
Hernandez. He was also the author of the beautiful Jesus, and a
Resurrection in the possession of the Dulce Nombre Brotherhood; of a
lost work, a group of the Virgen del Rosario with the Infant Jesus in
her arms and St. Domenico and St. Catherine kneeling at her feet; and of
the altar-screen of the Convent of San Leandro. These statues prove that
Jerónimo Hernandez was a carver of distinguished merit. In the
altar-screen of San Leandro he was assisted by Juan de Sancedo and Vasco
de Pereyra, a celebrated Portuguese painter, who carried out the
painting and gilding of the statues.
A pupil of Jerónimo Hernandez was Gaspar Nicolas Delgado, who also
studied with his uncle Pedro Delgado. He gained a higher reputation than
his masters, and in Seville is accounted as one of the greatest
sculptors. This estimate is misleading. His chief work, the St. John the
Baptist in the Desert, which is in the chapel of the Nuns of St.
Clemente though a bas-relief of real merit, the landscape especially
being well represented, does not justify his position as a master. The
merit of the work has gained from the fine polychrome, which was
carried out by the artist Pacheco.
A third artist who worked at this period, and a carver of more personal
talent, was Capitan Cepeda, a native of Cordova, who, like Torrigiano
was in turn a soldier and artist. He served in Italy and afterwards came
to Seville, being summoned there by the goldsmiths of the city for the
special work of arousing a devotion for the Crucified Christ. With this
object Cepeda modelled the Cristo de la Expiracion which now stands on
the altar of the small chapel of the museum. It is a work of Spanish
realism, finely executed, with every detail of sorrow expressed and
accentuated by the violent attitude and gesture. Again we would
emphasise the fact that such a work can only be estimated truly by
remembering the Spanish religious spirit. Cepeda represents in Seville
the style which Juan Juni made popular in the Northern schools. Like
that artist, his interest rests in the individuality of his work, which
is national and wholly Spanish, while his contemporaries, Jerónimo
Hernandez and Gaspar Nicolas Delgado, followed the newer influences from
Italy.
The Sevillian school had not yet produced a master. But the time was now
ripe. In the closing years of the century there came to Seville the man
who raised polychrome sculpture to its highest rank, and who was the
greatest carver of Spain. His name was Juan Martinez Montañés.
Of the early life of this great artist we know almost nothing beyond the
fact that he was the pupil of Pablo Rojas, a sculptor of Cordova. We
first have definite information about him in the year 1582, when he with
his wife came to the Monastery of Dulce Nombre de Jesus at Seville,
where we learn they were granted free residence for life in recognition
of an Image of the Virgin executed for the brotherhood. Two years later,
in 1590, Montañés was at work for the Carmelite nuns. Nothing further of
the artist’s life is known until the year 1607, when he completed a
Jesus for the Santísimo Brotherhood of the cathedral. The record of this
work proves that Montañés was then living in the Arquillo de Roelas with
Catalina Salcedo y Sandobal. Thus he must have lost his first wife and
again been married. He was at this time fifty years old. Such is the
scant record of the first half of this great artist’s life. In truth he
came late to the fruition of his genius, for it was after these fifty
years of living, when the work of most men is already accomplished,
that Montañés created the greatest of those works which are the glory
of Spain.
It is fitting to say a few words about his art. Montañés occupies the
same position in the Southern school that Gregorio Hernandez held in the
North. Like that master, he drew his inspiration directly from Nature.
He had the same respect for truth, the same simplicity, and, stronger
even than these qualities, the same Spanish religious sentiment and
noble idealism. It is true that he used and made his own the methods of
the Italian Renaissance, which were dominating the Sevillian artists,
and which he would seem to have imbibed from a study of the classical
models in the Casa de Pilatos of the Duke of Alcala; but with this
outside influence he retained a powerful personality. Thus his work is
entirely removed from the Italian style, as it expressed itself in the
Peninsula with its fantastic mingling of Christianity and paganism. In
nobility of form and religious sentiment the statues of Montañés surpass
all other works of their class. Once again, and more emphatically than
the carvings of any other artist, unless indeed we except Gregorio
Hernandez, they give an answer to those who would discredit the beauty
of polychrome statuary.
From the year 1607 onwards, up to his death in 1649, Montañés carried
out numerous orders for the churches, convents, and religious
brotherhoods of Seville; the greater number of these works still remain
in the city. But of some it must be said that, though doubtless executed
in the master’s studio and bearing his name, they were the work of his
pupils. Fortunately it is not difficult to distinguish these spurious
pieces which have been fathered upon Montañés. We have in the archives
of the churches an exact record, usually with dates, of most of his
works. Thus we are able to follow chronologically the evolution of his
talent.
The earliest undertakings of Montañés after the execution of the infant
Jesus for the Santísimo Brotherhood were two portrait-statues of St.
Ignatius Loyola and St. Francis Xavier (Plates 140 and 141) which were
commissioned in the year 1610 on the occasion of the beatification of
the former saint, and which are now in the University Chapel. Of these
idealised portraits Professor Justi writes that they are “marked by
noble severity of character and pathos of expression.”
The period between 1610 and 1612 was occupied with an important work,
the designing and carving of the altar-screen and statues for the old
monastery of San Isidoro at Santiponce, in the suburb of Seville.
Montañés is noteworthy as a carver of altar-screens, and in this he
returned to the methods of earlier artists. Seville owes to him three
great retablos; those of Santa Clara and San Lorenzo in the city itself,
and the one at Santiponce, which of the three is perhaps the most
beautiful. It is in two registers with an attic. In the centre of the
first portion stands the magnificent statue of St. Jerome, one of the
finest figures of Montañés; placed on the right and left are St. John
the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, and two bas-reliefs of the
Adoration of the Magi and of the Shepherds. The last group is especially
beautiful. San Isidoro, Archbishop of Seville and patron of the church,
occupies the centre of the second register, while the bas-reliefs on
either side represent the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. In the
attic are figures of the Cardinal Virtues and an Assumption of the
Virgin, which surmount a Crucifix and two kneeling angels.
In this great work it seems certain that Montañés must have been aided
by his pupils. The St. Jerome, however, was carved entirely by himself.
It was coloured by Pacheco, who was for many years the collaborator of
the Sevillian master. The work is perfectly executed, indeed it is
impossible to say more of this magnificent polychrome than that it
merits the praise which has been lavished upon it.
There are also in the Church of Santiponce the tombs of Don Alonso Perez
de Guzmán el Bueno and his wife Doña Maria Coronel, who founded the
monastery. They are carved in marble and polychromed. Cean Bermudez
attributes to Montañés the figure of the hero of Tarifa. This is an
error; both monuments are clearly by the same hand, and the style is not
that of Montañés. But they are fine works, harmonious and simple, and
the polychrome is very good indeed. It is unfortunate that their author
is unknown.
The masterpiece of Montañés, and the work by which he is most widely
known, belongs to the year 1614: it is the Crucifix now in the sacristy
of the cathedral (Plate 142), but originally executed for the
Carthusians of Santa Maria de las Cuevas, and given to the monastery
with the stipulation that the figure was never to be removed. This
statue, once seen, can never be forgotten. What impresses us is the
dignity of the nude figures, wonderfully carved, without any violent
attitudes, and the colouring, perfectly harmonious; it is the
incomparable refinement, the sobriety with which the divine drama is
represented, that moves us so profoundly. Montañés expresses perfectly
the deep religious feeling which animated Spain in the seventeenth
century. A passage in the _Arte de la Pintura_ tells us that the
polychrome was done by Pacheco in the “_mat tone_” which he used with
such splendid effect.
Five years later, in 1619, Montañés executed the first of his Christs of
the Passion for the Cofradia de Cristo del Grand Poder Santísimo y Madre
de Dios Trespaso, an order founded in Seville by the Dukes of Medina
Sidonia in the middle of the fifteenth century. The statue bears the
name _El Señor del Gran Poder_ (The Being of Great Power). A good
replica of this work belongs to the parish church of San Ildefonso. The
original statue is now in the Church of San Lorenzo. It is placed in a
dark side-chapel, where it is difficult to see it in the unequal light
of the candles. The Christ bears the Cross in an unusual attitude, the
upper part resting upon His shoulders. The face has splendid dignity.
But the statue has been disfigured by the barbarous custom of dressing
the figure in elaborate robes entirely out of harmony with the subject.
Nobody sees the figure as it originally was, vigorously carved, and
wearing nothing but a loin-cloth. These representations of Christ with
the Cross appealed strongly to the Spaniards, and were greatly
venerated. Montañés cared much for them, and we read that a replica of
_El Señor del Gran Poder_, known as _El Señor de la Pasion_, which he
carved for the Convent of La Merced Calzada, was more esteemed by him
than any of his works. It is even reported that when in Holy Week the
Christ was carried in procession, he would wait to watch it pass,
overcome with joy and surprise at what his hand had been able to create.
This Christ is now in the parochial church of San Salvador, where is
also a group of St. Anne and the Virgin attributed to Montañés.
As well as interpreting the story of Christ’s Passion, Montañés created
statues of the Virgin, whose dignity, beauty, and feeling won for him
the popular admiration of his contemporaries. The worship of the Mother
of God had always made deep appeal to the religious heart of Spain;
then, in the year 1617, a papal edict was issued, at the earnest
instigation of Philip IV., declaring the immaculate nature of Mary. No
dogma had ever been accepted so readily, or believed in so fervently, in
Spain. The worship of the people in Montañés’ life was, in point of
fact, practically centred in adoration of the Virgin Mary; the many
different religious orders, while venerating their respective founders
and saints, were all united in their devotion to the Virgin. Art, still
the servant of religion, was summoned to give expression to this
passionate worship. Every artist was engaged in depicting the Virgin
Mother. In the North, the artists, working under the inspiration of the
Flemish masters, had delighted in representing those Virgins of Anguish
where the Mother mourns at the foot of the Cross for her Son. But now
Mary took a new form; she symbolises grace and beauty instead of the
severity and asceticism of the older ideal. This was especially the case
in Seville, the joyous city of the South. Here in exquisite images and
paintings we see her young and happy, the sinless Virgin-Mother of the
Lord. Montañés in sculpture and Murillo in painting were the great
masters of this new ideal. They interpreted the favoured subject with
that combination of naturalism and mysticism which found its way direct
to the heart of the Andalusian religionists. They share together the
claim of being the creators of the Spanish Virgins.
Seville contains several Conceptions by Montañés. There is one in the
cathedral, another of equal merit is in the Segrario Chapel of San
Julian. The Conceptions of Santa Clara and San Clemente are also fine
examples; they have greater merit than the better-known and much-praised
Virgin of the University (Plate 143). It will suffice if we describe one
of these Conceptions.
Montañés was already old when in 1630 he executed the statue, which was
the earliest of his Immaculate Conceptions, now in the cathedral (Plate
144). Her type is Andalusian, and she is shown in the full bloom of her
beauty. She appears to be meditating on the Immaculate Birth, and what
we note especially is the dignity and grace of her attitude and the
serene expression. The folds of the robe and mantle follow, but do not
accentuate, the beautiful figure. Angels hover around her feet, which
are hidden by her robe, as is commanded by the Church. The polychrome of
the statue has been renewed, owing to damage having been done to the
original painting by the removal of the vestments, with which, up to the
year 1779, the figure was barbarously clothed. But the work has been
carefully done, with due regard to the design of the primitive
polychromists. The flesh tints are warm and glowing, and the hair is
black with brown reflections. The robe is white over a red dress, of
which only the sleeves appear, and is covered with a pattern of gold
inset around with a brown fillet. This black mantle is also enriched
with a design of golden palm-leaves. We do not know who was the original
painter of this work. It was not Pacheco, for before 1630, the date of
the Conception, the father-in-law of Velazquez had, after the lawsuit in
1622, severed his connection with Montañés, who wished to exercise a
closer superintendence in the carrying out of the polychrome of his
statues than Pacheco would submit to. Montañés does not seem to have
undertaken the polychrome himself; his works were too numerous to permit
this. An interesting contract dated 1641, and relating to the colouring
of the altar-screen of San Miguel at Xeres, names Jacinto Soto as the
polychromist, and besides furnishes strict injunctions that he must
accept and follow in the work the directions of Montañés. From this
document we may assume that Jacinto Soto succeeded Pacheco.
The consideration of these Christs of the Passion and the Conceptions
has carried us away from the chronological order of Montañés’ work. The
years 1615 to 1622 were occupied with the execution of the screen of the
high altar and four altars in the nave of the Church of Santa Clara, of
which the statues and the sculptures are the work of Montañés. The
carvings are of great merit, but unfortunately the screen of the high
altar was redecorated after the death of the master and almost ruined.
It has fine statues of Santa Clara, of the Christ and God the Father, as
well as a Conception, which formerly was on one of the side altars, four
bas-reliefs and a number of statuettes, among which special attention
should be given to the very beautiful group of angels, who carry the
lamps of the Holy Sacrament. On the side altars are the figures of St.
Francis, St. John the Baptist, and St. John the Evangelist.
The third important altar of Montañés is that of the Church of San
Lorenzo. It belongs to a later period of his art, having been undertaken
about the year 1639. The statue of St. Lawrence and the four
bas-reliefs, though probably not entirely the work of the master, are
carvings of excellent taste and distinction.
The carvings attributed to Montañés are very numerous, and, as we have
stated already, it is necessary to make a distinction between his own
work and that of his pupils. The statues of St. Bruno, the Virgin, and
St. John the Baptist (Plates 145 and 146), which were executed for the
Carthusians of Santa Maria during the period between 1617 and 1620, and
which are now in the Museum of Seville, are examples of carvings which,
though executed in the studio of Montañés, must not be accounted his
personal work. Probably their author was his favourite pupil Solis, who
for many years was the devoted collaborator of the master. This is also
the opinion of M. Marcel Dieulafoy. The Virgin is a very beautiful
polychrome, which speaks of the high skill of the carver. The original
colouring has been well cared for, and there is great delicacy in the
rose-coloured robe and blue mantle, which is covered with flowers and a
network design in gold. The child Jesus wears a robe of pale blue
relieved with delicate gold damasking.
In the museum is also the celebrated statue of Santo Domingo, which was
brought from the high altar of the Church of Santo Domingo de
Portacelci. It belongs to the year 1627. It is a fine work, but though
much prized in Seville, its merit is not so great as the St. Jerome of
Santiponce, the statue with which it should be compared.
In the year 1635, when Montañés was at least seventy-five years old, an
age when the activity of most men is over, he was called to Madrid by
the Grand Duke of Tuscany, to execute an equestrian statue of Philip IV.
He modelled a masterpiece, but the mould being sent to Italy to be
cast, was by some mischance lost. However, the master’s design served as
a model for the sculptor Pietro Tacca, whose work now stands in the
Plaza del Oriente, at Madrid.
It was during this two years’ sojourn in Madrid that Montañés renewed
his friendship with Velazquez, and sat for that incomparable portrait
which is one of the masterpieces of the great painter.
The last work of Montañés was an altar-screen for the Church of San
Miguel at Cadiz. The commission for the work had been given as early as
1609, but Montañés had been occupied with the altar-screens of
Santiponce and other commissions in Seville, and the work had been
postponed. There was a second commission signed in 1613, but the work
was not undertaken until much later, and was not finally achieved until
1640, after the visit to Madrid. The statue of St. Bruno which dominates
the altar is very fine; the figure is seated, an unusual position for
Montañés. The polychrome was executed by Jacinto Soto.
Montañés died in 1649. He left a number of able pupils, and though none
inherited his genius, they carried on his work with merit, and sustained
the high renown of the school of Seville. It will be well to consider
their works in a separate chapter.