13 - PEDRO DE MENA (Granada, 1628–Málaga, 1688).

PEDRO DE MENA (Granada, 1628–Málaga, 1688). “Saint Peter of Alcántara.” Carved wood. Work exhibited in: From the Middle Ages to the Baroque: Spanish and European Sculpture. Ansorena Gallery. Madrid. Measurements: 73 x 40 x 20 cm; 83 x 37 x 29 cm (base). This sculpture depicts Saint Peter of Alcántara (1499–1562), a reformer of the Franciscan Order and one of the great figures of 16th-century Spanish spirituality. His canonization in 1669 spurred the spread of his cult and of a devotional iconography in whose development Pedro de Mena played a prominent role. The Granada-born sculptor tackled the representation of the saint on several occasions, producing models that achieved notable prominence in Spanish Baroque religious art. The figure is depicted standing, clad in the austere Franciscan habit, cinched with the characteristic cord, and draped in a cape with broad folds. His arms are raised in a gesture of spiritual surrender, while his face—with gaunt features, prominent cheekbones, and a gaze directed upward—expresses intense mystical rapture. The composition creates a powerful contrast between the restrained volumes of the habit and the expressiveness of the hands and face, which concentrate the emotional intensity of the image. Particularly noteworthy are the naturalistic rendering of the skin tones, the anatomical precision of the hands, and the careful rendering of the folds, which lend depth and movement to the figure. Due to its formal characteristics, the work is associated with Pedro de Mena (1628–1688), one of the most prominent sculptors of the Spanish Baroque and a key figure in the Granada school. The conception of the figure, the rendering of the habit, and the sensitivity with which the image of the saint is portrayed all reflect the models developed by the master and his circle. The sculpture finds a particularly significant point of reference in Pedro de Mena’s Saint Peter of Alcántara, housed in the National Museum of Sculpture in Valladolid (inv. CE1129), dated around 1663. Although both works feature different compositional approaches, they share the ascetic characterization of the saint and the pursuit of an intense spiritual connection with the viewer. This ability to transform sculptural naturalism into a vehicle for religious emotion constitutes one of the most distinctive features of Mena’s work. Pedro de Mena was one of the great masters of Spanish Baroque sculpture. Trained in Granada in the workshop of his father, Alonso de Mena, his artistic style evolved under the decisive influence of Alonso Cano. In 1658, he moved to Málaga to work on the choir stalls of its cathedral, one of the great sculptural ensembles of the Spanish Baroque. He later carried out significant work in Madrid and Toledo, where he created his famous Saint Francis of Assisi, now housed in the Primatial Cathedral. His extraordinary ability to depict the emotional states and spirituality of his figures made his devotional images some of the most renowned creations of the Golden Age. Among his most notable works is also the Penitent Magdalene at the Prado Museum. His body of work is represented in major institutions such as the National Sculpture Museum in Valladolid, the Prado Museum, and the cathedrals of Málaga and Toledo. This work was part of the exhibition *From the Middle Ages to the Baroque: Spanish and European Sculpture*, held at the Ansorena Gallery in Madrid in 2021, where it was attributed to Pedro de Mena. Its documented exhibition history, combined with the expressive power of the composition, the quality of the modeling, and its connection to one of the sculptor’s most representative iconographies, reinforces the significance of this piece within the field of Spanish Baroque sculpture collecting.