Hispano-Flemish School, ca. 1500

Hispano-Flemish school, ca. 1500.
"Virgin and Child.
Carved wood.
It presents faults and damages caused by xylophagous.
Measurements: 120 x 47 x 30 cm.
The figure represents the Virgin Mary standing, holding in her left arm the Child Jesus, who blesses with the right hand while holding a small object or symbolic gesture with the left. The carving, executed in wood, presents a robust and serene volumetry, with a clear interest in the naturalistic representation of the folds of the garments, which fall in soft and fluid rhythms. The treatment of the faces, of contained and serene expression, suggests an ideal of spiritual and maternal beauty.
The Hispano-Flemish school flourished in the Iberian Peninsula between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, as a result of the intense artistic exchange between Flanders and the Hispanic kingdoms. This style combined Flemish technical meticulousness and detail with Castilian spirituality and sobriety, generating an artistic language of great formal richness and emotional depth.
The artists of this school were characterized by their exceptional quality in polychrome wood carving, their mastery of anatomy and drapery, and their ability to endow the sacred figures with a contained but close humanity. The Hispano-Flemish virgins, like the present one, usually stand out for their compositional harmony, expressive tenderness and plastic elegance, qualities that distinguish them from the rigidity of the late Gothic and anticipate the sweetness of the Renaissance.