Spanish school of ca. 1600

Spanish school of ca. 1600.
"Bishop".
Carved and gilded wood.
It retains its original polychrome and gilding. Presents some noticeable lack in the photographs.
Measurements: 112 x 33 x 22 cm.
Sculpture in carved wood representing with verism and naturalistic will a bishop, richly dressed with tunic and mantle, touched with mitre and originally carrying a crosier. The tunic is undulated with horizontal and vertical folds, through which the play of chiaroscuro is enhanced. The serene face is framed by slightly curled hair. It is a sculpture that reflects the advance towards the baroque. Despite the serious economic and political upheavals, the seventeenth century in Spain was a golden century for art. The counter-reformist doctrine demanded from art a realistic language so that the faithful could 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.