This book is the first serious study in English to reappraise an art form crucial to the development of Spanish art. In sixteenth and seventeenth century Spain, sculptors such as Juan de Mesa, Juan Martinez Montanes, Alonso Cano and Pedro de Mena worked in a unique relationship with painters, combining their skills to depict, with astonishing realism, the great religious themes. Wooden sculptures of the saints, the Immaculate Conception and the Passion of Christ were painstakingly carved, gessoed and intricately painted, even embellished with glass eyes and tears and ivory teeth. Sometimes shockingly graphic in their depiction of Christ's sufferings, or beautifully clothed, as if brought to life, these were objects of divine inspiration to the faithful, whether on altars, or processed through the streets on holy days. Velazquez's teacher and father-in-law, Francisco Pacheco, often painted the flesh and drapery of wood carvings by the celebrated sculptor Juan Martinez Montanes, and taught a generation of students. The skill of painting these hyperrealistic sculptuires was an integral part of an artist's training, enhancing his sensitivity to visual impact and physical presence - evident in paintings of the period by Francisco Ribalta, Jusepe di Ribera, Velazquez and Zurbaran.
