PAIR OF POLYCHROMED WOODEN SCULPTURES. “SAINTS APOSTLES JOHN AND PAUL”. CASTILLA SCHOOL, 16TH CENTURY.

Pair of polychrome wooden sculptures. “Saint John and Saint Paul”. Castilian school, 16th century. Both male figures are depicted standing, with their principal iconographic attributes and dressed in the timeless robes that the period reserved for sacred individuals. The younger man holds a chalice in his hand, from which a serpent emerges, and an eagle at his feet; the bearded man presents a sword, the hilt of which is visible. The first is Saint John, with the eagle of the Tetramorph alluding to his Gospel, and the chalice related to the episode in Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend in which Emperor Domitian tried to kill him with poisoned wine, which escaped in the form of a serpent after the evangelist blessed the cup. The second is Saint Paul, with that characteristic appearance that links him to much earlier early Christian works and with the sword of his martyrdom, which also refers to a passage in his Letter to the Ephesians. Stylistically, both devotional sculptures in the round show a marked Italian Renaissance influence in drapery, contrapposto, proportions, and gestures, distancing the works from the other trend of the period, which leaned more towards Flemish models, favoring greater drama. The Gothic style has been left behind, as demonstrated by the naturalness of faces, folds, anatomy, and gestures, after much effort. It was first necessary to accustom the clientele to the new tastes and for artists to learn the technical and aesthetic innovations that the arrival of the Renaissance brought, and it developed at different times and to very different levels depending on the region or the artist. Compare the works, for example, with the Saint John from the circle of Juan Rodríguez in the Simón Díaz Foundation (a work on loan to the Museum of the Fairs in Medina del Campo, Valladolid).

· Size: 26x26x76 cms.