Saint Elías, Links in a Sculptural Chain of Two Artists

Showcase Intervención ISSN 2448-5934 JULIO-DICIEMBRE 2023 JULY-DECEMBER 2023 Saint Elías, Links in a Sculptural Chain of Two Artists Ir a la versión en español OJS DOI: 10.30763/Intervencion.289.v2n28.68.2023 • YEAR 14, ISSUE NO. 28: 204-214 Índice / Contents Submitted: 30.06.2023 • Accepted: 18.08.2023 • Published: 16.02.2024 Mercedes Murguía Meca Yolanda Madrid Alanís Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografía (encrym), Restauración y Museografía (encrym), Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (inah), (inah), orcid: orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9632-7953 https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7201-702X Translation by Damián de la Paz Pérez Miranda ABSTRACT In this showcase, considerations are made regarding the production of the novohispanic imagery, implying the combination of the carving and the polychrome, which uses as an axis the sculpture of San Elías, from the temple of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Our Lady of the Assumption), Tlapanaloya, State of Mexico. First of a group of five images restored in the Seminario-Taller de Restauración de Escultura Policromada (strep, Seminar-Workshop of Polychrome Sculpture Restoration) from the Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museología (encrym) of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (inah), which led to the identification of a carver and a painter from Spain: Pedro de Requena y Franciso de Gamboa o De Ibía, better known as De Zumaya. The collection was adressed, in the terms proposed by Paul Philippot, as a unit. KEYWORDS sculpture, craver, painter, artists, unity S an Elías is a sculpture of 156.3 x 54 x 48 cm, representing the prophet; his clothing: a robe, belt, and brown scapular, as well as a white pellegrina are the signature characteris- San Elías, links in a sculptural chain of two artists CONVOCATORIA 2023 CALL FOR PAPERS 2023 204 Showcase Intervención tics of the Carmelites (Figure 1), as indicated in the Speculum Carmelitanum (1680) (Limón, 2021, p. 12). He holds in his hands the attributes identifying a saint as a prophet: the book of prophecies on the right hand and a bass pen, wielded as a flaming sword, on the left one; regarding the body position, he is in a contrapposto position, standing on top of an orb while being held by a pedestal (Cañiza, 2018, pp. 9-14). ISSN 2448-5934 JULIO-DICIEMBRE 2023 JULY-DECEMBER 2023 OJS Índice / Contents FIGURE 1. San Elías sculpture (Photograph: Guillermo Vazquezpico, 2019; courtesy: strepencrym-inah and Temple of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, México). San Elías, links in a sculptural chain of two artists CONVOCATORIA 2023 CALL FOR PAPERS 2023 205 Showcase Intervención ISSN 2448-5934 JULIO-DICIEMBRE 2023 JULY-DECEMBER 2023 OJS Índice / Contents It is difficult to analyze an image such as this one due to the absence of a reference framework for the study of the novohispanic sculpture and the denial of its existence by those investigating the neoclassical artists and, after them, the Academy, which defended the point of view of it not being a piece of art; for them, these types of pieces were simple lumps or images fulfilling a purely iconographic and worship function. Add to this the problems resulting from the unknown authorship of the pieces (Manrique, 1995, pp. 101-111). These are only a few of the difficulties that Jorge Alberto Manrique described in his text Problemas y enfoques en el estudio de la escultura novohispana. This was part of the scenery presented when the piece representing San Elías, belonging to the temple of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Our Lady of the Assumption) (ca. 1815),1 Tlapanaloya, State of Mexico, was restored in the Seminario-Taller de Restauración de Escultura Policromada (strep, Seminar-Workshop of Polychrome Sculpture Restoration) from the Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museología (encrym) of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (inah). However, the situation also presented an opportunity to identify specific properties for the study of the novohispanic sculpture at the end of the 16th century and the start of the 17th century, based on the analysis of the formal and decorative characteristics shared by a group of the sculpted pieces renowned by art history. Based on the analysis of the carving on San Elías, as well as in the iconography of the polychromy, Pablo F. Amador Marrero accredits the authorship to the Spanish sculptor Pedro de Requena, master carver of the altarpiece from the Convento de San Miguel Arcángel in Huejotzingo, Puebla, and to Francisco de Zumaya, painter (Amador, 2021, 00:02:27). Amador found links that associate the carving of the sculpture to the Spanish Pedro de Requena: in the comparative analysis with several sculptures that helped identify the authorship of both, like in Inmaculada Concepción (Immaculate Conception) (Figure 2), of the namesake temple in Mexico, he recognizes similarities in the shape of the carving of the face, lips, nose, and chin, as well as the eyes’ socket, which is the signature of the carver (Amador, 2021, 00:27:32). 1 “Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Our Lady of the Assumption), built in 1815. Although there is not enough information about the origin of the sculpture, knowing both temporalities—of the piece and the place where it is kept—allows us to infer that the sculpture came from another place. On the other hand, the pieces that make up the collection of this building come from others, such as old temples, states, and donations that were not registered” (Personal communication with Presbyter Baltazar Vilchis Hernández, Parish Administrator of Tlapanaloya, on March 3, 2018, in Cañiza, Murguía, Unikel, & Amaro, 2018, p. 19). Editorial translation from the Spanish version. San Elías, links in a sculptural chain of two artists CONVOCATORIA 2023 CALL FOR PAPERS 2023 206 Showcase Intervención ISSN 2448-5934 JULIO-DICIEMBRE 2023 JULY-DECEMBER 2023 OJS Índice / Contents FIGURE 2. Comparison of the faces of Inmaculada Concepción and San Elías (Photograph: Pablo F. Amador and Mercedes Murguía, 2020; courtesy: strep-enrcym-inah) and Temple of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Mexico). Other signs that Amador explains are the details of the robe decorations, which also help associate Requena with the sculptures of San Elías and of Santa Teresa, the latter located in the museum of El Carmen, Mexico City, whose carving is accredited to the previously mentioned sculptor. This also helps associate the polychrome with Francisco de Zumaya, since circular elements forming pineapple-shaped symmetrical axes alongside eight-sepa rated-petals flowers can be found among the decorative details. These are shown in the ornamental model of Santa Teresa; in the interior of its cloak, the fragment of a branch-cut stick can be seen (Amador, 2021, 00:16:38) (Figure 3). These have also been (...truncated)