25 LUISAROLDAN
called La Roldana
Spanish (Madrid),
1652-1706
Saint Gines de la Jar a, 169(2?)
Polychromed wood (pine and cedar)
with glass eyes
175.9 cm (69!/4in.)
Inscribed on the top of the base:
[LUlS]ARO[LD]AN,
ESC[\J]L[TO]RA DE CAMARA
ANO 169 [2?]; also inscribed
several times on the robe:
S. GINES DE LAXARA
85.SD.161
This statue challenges the boundaries between art and reality. Life-sized, carved and
painted to resemble a living human being, and dressed in a brocaded robe made
of wood that seems to have the qualities of fabric, this startling image displays the
verisimilitude characteristic of Spanish Baroque sculpture. The immediacy of the
image would have intensified the devotional experience of the viewer by making the
holy figure seem real and present. The effect is heightened by the actions and expression
of the saint, who walks forward, looking intently to his left. His mouth is open as if he
were speaking, his right hand is extended in wonder, and he probably held a staff in his
left hand.
Various legends describe how Saint Gines, who was descended from French royalty
(explaining the use of the fleur-de-lys, emblem of the kings of France, in the pattern
of the robe), came to be venerated in the area of Murcia, Spain, known as La Jara. One
tells how the saint, washed ashore in a shipwreck as he made a pilgrimage to Santiago
de Compostela, took up the life of a hermit on the site, which, in the fifteenth century,
became the Franciscan Monastery of La Jara, dedicated to him. Another recounts that,
after being beheaded, the saint threw his own head into a river; the severed head
washed up at La Jara, which became the center of his cult.
Luisa Roldan, one of the few known female sculptors of the seventeenth century,
learned her craft from her father, the sculptor Pedro Roldan of Seville. She produced
small terracotta groups as well as wood sculptures in collaboration with her husband,
who was responsible for the polychromy and estofado. This technique is brilliantly
exemplified in the robe of Saint Gines, where gold leaf was applied to the wood and
covered with brown pigment; the pigment was then scratched away to reveal the
gilding, simulating a brocade pattern, and further enriched by the use of punchwork
on the gold surfaces. La Roldanas success culminated in her appointment as sculptor to
the royal court (Escultora de Camara) by Charles II in 1692; she signed the Saint Gines
with her name and royal title. MC
EUROPEAN SCULPTURE 77
