Alonso Cano

ALONSO CANO (Granada, 1601–1667).
“Our Lady of Sorrows.”
Carved and polychromed wood.
Work exhibited in *From the Middle Ages to the Baroque: Spanish and European Sculpture*. Ansorena. Madrid.
Measurements: 54 x 36 x 23 cm.
The Virgin of Sorrows shows the body of her son on the altar to the faithful. This image is framed by the cross from which a shroud hangs. The depiction of Our Lady of Sorrows is similar to that of the Pietà, but in the case of Granada’s patron saint, her image does not depict the moment when Mary receives her son’s body.
Given the importance accorded to religious imagery in the Hispanic world, during the 17th and 18th centuries, ambitious series of paintings and extensive iconographic programs were created for churches and convents, in addition to printed images, medals, and reliquaries intended for private devotion. Taken as a whole, regardless of their size or medium, these images served the purpose of sanctifying everyday life beyond the altars.
Alonso Cano, a key painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Baroque. Cano was also the founder of the Granada school of painting and sculpture, and his disciples included Juan de Sevilla, Pedro Atanasio Bocanegra, José Risueño, Pedro de Mena, and José de Mora. The son of a prominent altarpiece builder and possibly also a draftsman, Alonso Cano was introduced to architectural drawing and religious sculpture by his father, with whom he collaborated from a very young age. In 1614 or 1615, he moved with his family to Seville, where he soon joined the painting workshop of Francisco Pacheco, at that time the city’s most prestigious master and, in effect, Velázquez’s teacher, with whom Cano formed a deep friendship. As a sculptor, he is traditionally believed to have trained under Juan Martínez Montañés, although there is no documentary evidence of this. As early as 1624, he signed his first known painting, and two years later he earned the title of master painter. In 1638, he moved to Madrid and was soon appointed court painter and drawing instructor to Prince Baltasar Carlos. There he became acquainted with the royal collections, which led his artistic style to evolve from his early Caravaggist phase toward a more colorful and elegant style, at times reminiscent of Van Dyck. However, in 1644 he was accused of murdering his wife, forcing him to seek refuge in Valencia. A year later, he returned to Madrid, and in 1652 he returned permanently to Granada, where he obtained a position at the cathedral thanks to the influence of Philip IV. There he completed the decoration of the main chapel and became the cathedral’s chief master. Works by Alonso Cano are currently housed in the Prado Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others.