Pedro de Mena y Medrano (Granada 1628 - 1688 Màlaga) Spanish, Granada, circa 1656-1658

Mariano Bertuchi, Malaga, early 20th century
and thence by family descent until 2012

Colle & Cortés, Granada: The Mystic Baroque, Madrid, 2015, p. 105, fig. 10.4 (illus.)

Overall the condition of the wood is good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. The figure is composed in sections and original joints are visible, notably the the proper left foot; at the shoulders; at the proper right wrist; and at the proper left thumb. The original polychromy is in good condition, with minor craquelure throughout. There is a more prominent fissure on the proper right side of the back. The paint has flaked a little in a few areas, notably at the proper right arm and hand; at the proper left hand; at the proper left lower leg; and at the toes. The proper left foot is a little loose. There is some wear to the top of the head and a chip to one of the locks above the forehead. The base is in good condition with minor stable splitting to the wood (consistent with material) and some flaking to the paint; several original joints are visible. There is some minor oxidation to the Cross consistent with material.
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The present figure was recently rediscovered in the collection of the Orientalist painter Don Mariano Bertuchi. It is a new addition to a small group of works Pedro de Mena carved in Granada during his first years as an independent sculptor. The Infant Saint John the Baptist in the convent of Santa Catalina de Zafra in Granada compares so closely to the present statue that they must have been made in quick succession.

After a period in the workshop of his father, Alonso de Mena, Pedro became the apprentice to the master Alonso Cano when he moved to Granada in 1652. During this period, de Mena’s work was profoundly influenced by Cano but was more theatrical and realistic. The St. Joseph with the Christ Child in the Museo de Bellas Artes in Granada was part of a commission for the convent of El Santo Ángel Custodio in Granada upon which Cano and de Mena collaborated.  Compare the positioning of the short, gradually arching eyebrows and the attenuated shape of the eyes that characterize the work of both sculptors. The face of Cano’s Virgin of Belén, formerly in the Cathedral of Granada, and his San Diego de Alcalá in the Fundación Rodríguez Acosta in Granada also incorporate these idiosyncratic features.

De Mena remained a sought-after sculptor in Granada until 1658, when he was commissioned by Bishop Diego Martínez de Zarzosa and the Málaga chapter of the cathedral to complete the choir-stalls there that Luis Ortiz de Vargas (1629–47) began in the 1630s. The contract required that de Mena live in the city for two years and called for 40 panels to be carved with reliefs of saints. His carving of the panels included inventive and varied poses which brought the sculptor more fame. A trip to Madrid in 1662 introduced him to influential patrons who helped to keep him busy throughout the remainder of his career.

De Mena and José Mora are generally regarded as artistic descendants of Juan Martínez Montañés and Cano, but in technical skill and the expression of religious orthodoxy, De Mena’s statues are singular. His ability to convey the suppleness of skin was remarkable.

The only other known Standing Infant Christ by de Mena is in a private collection. It was carved later in his career and is thought to have formed a pair with an Infant Saint John the Baptist in the convent of San Antón in Granada.

RELATED LITERATURE
L.L. Moreno (ed.), Pedro de Mena y Castilla, exh. cat. Museo nacional de escultura, Valladolid, 1989
M. Trusted, Spanish Sculpture. A catalogue of the Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1996
M. Trusted, The Arts of Spain, Iberia and Latin America 1450-1700, London, New York, 2007

We are grateful to José Luis Romero Torres for his assistance in cataloguing this work.