Granada school, circle of the MENA; XVII century.

Granada School, MENA circle; XVII century.
"Saint Peter of Alcantara".
Carved and polychrome wood. Vitreous paste eyes.
Measurements: 49 x 37 x 22 cm.
This image represents Saint Pedro de Alcántara, one of the most outstanding figures of the Spanish spirituality of the 16th century. Reformer of the Franciscan Order and spiritual adviser of Saint Teresa of Jesus, the saint was especially venerated during the XVII and XVIII centuries, becoming one of the most widespread iconographies of the Spanish Baroque sculpture. He is usually depicted wearing the Franciscan habit, reflecting the extreme austerity, penitence and contemplative life that characterized his existence.
The work can be related to the circle of the Mena family, one of the most important sculptural centers of the Granada school of the 17th century. It shows features of the tradition initiated by Alonso de Mena and taken to its maximum expression by his son, Pedro de Mena, whose creations reached an extraordinary diffusion in Andalusia and the rest of Spain.
Pedro de Mena was trained in the family workshop in Granada and completed his apprenticeship with Alonso Cano, a fundamental figure of the Spanish Baroque. His production is characterized by a deep spirituality, an extraordinary technical quality and a singular capacity to transmit contained emotions through minimal gestures and introspective expressions. His sculptures stand out for the serenity of the faces, the refined treatment of the surfaces and an intense sensation of interior recollection that invites religious contemplation.
These qualities are especially reflected in the representations of ascetic saints such as this Saint Peter of Alcantara. The image conveys a silent and meditative spirituality, far removed from the more emphatic theatricality of other Baroque sculptural centers. The sobriety of the composition, the gestural restraint and the attention paid to the expression of the face fully respond to the aesthetic ideals developed by Pedro de Mena and spread by his followers.
The iconography of the saint achieved great popularity after his canonization in 1669, a moment from which time representations for churches and convents as well as for private devotion proliferated. Within this context, the present sculpture is an interesting example of the survival of the Granada models and of the influence exerted by the Mena workshop on the religious imagery of the second half of the 17th century.