Manuel Chili from Caspicara

MANUEL CHILI CASPICARA (Quito, 1720-1796).
"Christ".
Polychrome wood paste and vitreous paste.
Presents restorations.
Measurements: 70 x 51 x 10 cm; 97.5 cm (height with base).
This sculpture, conceived as a round sculpture in polychrome wood paste and enriched with vitreous paste eyes, is fully inscribed in the technical and aesthetic tradition of the School of Quito, where the apparent humility of the materials contrasts with the extraordinary sophistication of the results. The use of paste, historically considered a modest resource compared to solid wood, acquires a singular dimension here, not only because of its lightness and versatility, but also because of its rarity, which makes these pieces particularly valuable testimonies within the American colonial heritage.
The image, of a profoundly devotional character, represents a Crucifixion and is articulated from an intensely baroque dramatism, aimed at moving the viewer and arousing a direct spiritual experience. The body of Christ appears subjected to extreme tension: the anatomy, elongated and stylized, emphasizes physical fragility and agony, while the marked thinness, almost famished, reinforces the idea of sacrifice and stripping. This treatment does not only respond to a naturalistic ideal, but to an expressive will that seeks to transcend the physical to affect the emotional.
In this sense, polychromy plays a fundamental role. Far from being a mere decorative finish, it builds an illusion of life through nuanced flesh tones and transparency effects that simulate human skin, while intensifying the visual impact of the wounds, from which blood flows with a deliberately crude realism. This emphasis on the suffering corporeality connects with Counter-Reformation spirituality, where the contemplation of Christ's pain becomes a way of empathy and recollection.
These characteristics find clear affinities with the production of Manuel Chili Caspicara, one of the most outstanding figures of Andean colonial sculpture. Trained in the context of Quito and heir to a tradition in which indigenous and European baroque influences converge, Caspicara developed a sculptural language of great technical refinement and expressive power. His works, preserved in spaces such as the Cathedral of Quito or the Church of San Francisco de Quito, are characterized precisely by this balance between naturalism and dramatization, by anatomical detail and by the ability to give the figures an intense emotional charge.
The piece described above shares with Caspicara's work not only the materials and techniques, but also the aesthetic conception of the body as a vehicle for spiritual expression. The elongation of the forms, the meticulousness in the representation of the wounded flesh and the use of polychromy as a narrative resource evidence a common sensibility, in which sculpture approaches painting in its capacity for illusionism and theatricality. Likewise, the disposition of the body and the attention to gesture refer to that tendency, typical of the Quito school, to conceive the figures almost as living scenes, capable of interacting emotionally with the viewer.