JOSÉ RISUEÑO
(Granada, 1665 – 1732)


Rest on the Flight into Egypt


Polychrome terracotta
19 ⅝ x 25 ⅝ x 11 inches (50 x 65 x 28 cm)


Provenance:

Private Collection, Argentina.

Literature:

José Antonio Díaz Gómez, “De Cano, Mora, Risueño y Sarabia: piezas inéditas del Barroco granadino,” Cuadernos de Arte de la Universidad de Granada, vol. 54 (2023), pp. 125-129, figs. 5-6.


This Rest on the Flight into Egypt is an outstanding example of polychrome sculpture of the Spanish Golden Age. The author of this work, José Risueño, was a preeminent sculptor the Granada school, standing at the intersection of Baroque intensity and early 18th-century Rococo refinement. Risueño trained in the workshop of his father—Manuel Risueño, a master carpenter—apprenticing alongside the sculptors Diego and José de Mora, as well as the painter Juan de Sevilla. These artists all worked within the artistic lineage begun by Alonso Cano and Pedro de Mena in Granada, and Risueño’s body of work stands out in this group for his success as both a painter and a sculptor. The artist is best known for his refined polychromed terracotta groups, like the present work, which displays a synthesis of technical mastery and devotional sentiment that perfectly characterizes the sacred art of southern Spain.

Masterfully worked in the round with softly-modelled physiognomies, graceful gestures, and boldly-executed drapery, our sculpture is a prime example of Risueño’s mature sculptures. The work features the Virgin seated on the left, nestling the sleeping Christ child in her lap, while Saint Joseph appears on the right, kneeling with his hands crossed on his chest in prayer. The figures are placed in a carefully balanced (nearly pyramidal) arrangement, in which the Virgin and Saint Joseph are presented as independent figures placed side by side. Special attention is paid to Saint Joseph, whose proper left leg projects forward into the viewer’s space, imbuing the figure with movement. Both his and the Virgin’s bodies are positioned at a slight angle, each facing inward towards the Christ child—the central object of devotion.

The protagonists are depicted on a base of wood, cork, and terracotta that simulates a rocky terrain, and on the reverse both the figures and the base are unmodeled and display a rough finish. This indicates that the work was originally intended to be displayed against a vertical surface (likely within a devotional setting such as a convent or private oratory) and would have been accompanied by a painted backdrop that completed the staging of the biblical episode.

The facial types employed for the Virgin and Joseph—oval-shaped with a sharp, thin nose for the Virgin and more elongated with strong cheekbones for Joseph—finds close parallels in other works by Risueño from the final stage of his career, after 1717. This is particularly clear in comparison of our sculptural group with the sculpture of Saint Teresa of Jesus sitting at her desk for the discalced Carmelites of Úbeda (Fig. 1) and the Saint Joseph with the Christ Child in the church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Antequera (Fig. 2). Our Saint Joseph’s curly hair and scraggly beard, each sculpted with precise, wavy strands, reflects the influence and sculptural vocabulary of José de Mora, Risueño’s close colleague.

 
Photograph of a sculpture by Risueño showing Saint Teresa of Jesus sitting at a desk and writing.

Fig. 1. José Risueño, Saint Teresa of Jesus, polychrome wood, Museo San Juan de la Cruz, Úbeda.

Detail photograph of a polychrome sculpture by Risueño of Saint Joseph holding the Christ child in his arms.

Fig. 2. José Risueño, Saint Joseph with the Christ Child, Church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, Antequera.

 

Risueño was at his best when working in terracotta. These sculptures constitute a distinctive and almost independent genre within Risueño’s output given the agility he displayed in modelling clay, as well as the refinement in the chromatic economy of the polychromy. This sculpture not only reflects the artist’s ability to merge the pictorial and sculptural arts, but also affirms his place among the leading sculptors of the late Spanish Baroque. As a work of exceptional quality and devotional sensitivity, it stands as a testament to the enduring artistic legacy of Granada’s distinctive sculptural tradition.

José Risueño’s authorship of this sculpture has been confirmed by Dr. José Antonio Díaz Gómez (written communication, 2023).[1] Díaz Gómez dates the work to ca. 1717–1721, and has published it in an article featuring recently-discovered works by artists from Granada in private collections. He writes:

 

 “By comparing the stylistic similarities of this sculpture with the artist’s later works, we can firmly establish the attribution of this terracotta of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt to the hand of José Risueño. Furthermore, an approximate chronology can be established that places this work in the final development of the artist’s style after he established to new ties to the province of Jaén in 1717, as well as to the last works we have from his sculptural activity dating to around 1721. Finally, if this work is compared to Risueño’s general sculptural output, it becomes clear that we are dealing with a sculpture that presents a precision of features, a care in observance of details, and a dedication to the work of polychromy and composition that is superior in quality to the other known terracottas and reflects the greatness of care that he put into his wood sculptures. Therefore, we find ourselves faced with one of the best works of this important Granada artist from the transition of the 17th to the 18th century.”

 
 

[i] A catalogue entry on this sculpture by Dr. Díaz Gómez is available upon request.