Andalusian school; first half of the 17th century. "Saint John of the Cross". Carved and polychromed wood. It has slight faults on the panel and missing polychromy. Measurements: 22 x17 cm. This sculpture is defined by the great volumetric play that the sculptor has managed to capture through the folds of the protagonist's tunic. This characteristic combines the volumetric characteristic of the work with an exacerbated movement, which gives it great dynamism. Although the religious figure has lost his attributes, he can be identified as Juan de Yepes, known as Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), was a mystic and religious poet whose experiences belonged to the close circle of Saint Teresa of the Cross. Together with the saint, he founded the order of the Discalced Carmelites. In his early days he worked as a teacher at the novitiate college of Mancera, and later founded the college of Alcalá de Henares, a prominent place due to the university founded by Cisneros, where theology studies were taught. He later became the confessor of the monastery of Santa Teresa. In 1577 he was imprisoned because of his confrontation with the Carmelite order, but he managed to escape from prison and move to Andalusia, where he spent the rest of his life. Given the importance given to religious images in the Hispanic world, during the 17th and 18th centuries ambitious pictorial series and extensive iconographic programmes were created for churches and convents, as well as printed prints, medals and reliquaries for private devotion. As a whole, regardless of their size or medium, these images fulfilled the aim of sacralising everyday life beyond the altars. The Granada school stood out during this period, receiving and developing the stylistic patterns of the Baroque. The leading role played by the Andalusian school of sculpture during the period known as the Golden Age is evident; a series of masters of unquestionable worth belong to it, who were able to combine extraordinary technical quality and religious depth in their works, in keeping with the atmosphere of their time, fully in tune with the tastes of the clientele, who were more interested in works with religious themes than in secular commissions, thus marking a substantial difference with respect to the production of other European countries. It is also worth noting that the economic development and the boom that Seville experienced after the Discovery of America, having become the gateway and port of the Indies, was quickly reflected in art; from the first decades of the century, masters of different origins began to flock to the city in search of the American market and the potential Sevillian clientele, increasingly attracted by the new artistic forms arriving from Italy.