Luisa Roldán Circle, 18th century

Circle of LA ROLDANA (Seville, 1652-1706).
"Saint Joseph with Child", XVIII century.
Polychrome carving.
Measurements: 29 x 18 x 8 cm.

Devotional carving of Sevillian school representing St. Joseph with the Child Jesus in his arms. His bare feet rest on a cloud populated by seraphim. The delicacy of the features, the soft contrapposto of the body wrapped in a draped tunic and the baroque classicism that permeates the whole is similar to the style developed by La Roldana, an excellent carver of devotional figures. From her youth she would stand out for her great qualities for drawing and modeling, becoming over the years a great master and continuation of her father's work. She worked as a chamber sculptor for the monarchs Charles II and Philip V. There are many works attributed to her in Seville. Among them are the thieves and the angels of the mystery of the Exaltation, the Angel of the mystery of the Prayer in the Garden, of the Brotherhood of Montesión, or St. Michael defeating the devil, gilded and polychrome wood, 1693, Monastery of El Escorial, Madrid. His only documented processional work is in Puerto Real (Cádiz) and is the Virgen de la Soledad, dated 1688. Other images of the artist are the Ecce Homo and the Patron Saints San Servando and San Germán, from the Cathedral of Cádiz, from 1687, as well as the small sculptural groups of Santa Ana and San Joaquín with the Virgen Niña, or the Niño Jesús Nazareno.