Spanish school; XVI century.

Spanish school; XVI century.
"Tabernacle door with the risen Christ".
Carved and polychrome wood.
Measurements: 40 x 24,5 x 3 cm.
In this relief, the author has represented the theme of the Resurrection of Christ. In the image the Savior can be observed standing. Jesus is dressed in a cloak and carrying the cross with a banner, which is raised on the slab that covers his tomb, while he raises one of his arms with which he adopts in his hand the gesture of blessing.
With the economy of the State broken, the nobility in decline and the high clergy burdened with heavy taxes, it was the monasteries, the parishes and the confraternities of clerics and laymen who promoted its development, the works sometimes being financed by popular subscription. Sculpture was thus compelled to embody the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when the counter-reformist doctrine demanded from art a realistic language so that the faithful would understand and identify with what was represented, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content to increase the fervor and devotion of the people. The religious subject is, therefore, the preferred theme of Spanish sculpture of this period, which in the first decades of the century began with a priority interest in capturing the natural, to progressively intensify throughout the century the expression of expressive values, which is achieved through the movement and variety of gestures, the use of light resources and the representation of moods and feelings.