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Polychrome Sculpture in Spanish America

• 
  Standing Angel, 18th century
  Ecuadoran (Quito)
  Wood, polychromed and gilded; H. 10 in. (25.4 cm)
  Gift of Loretta Hines Howard, 1964 (64.164.234)
  
• 
  Gift-Bearing Figures (from a Nativity Group), 18th century
  Guatemalan
  Wood, polychromed and gilded; (.176): H. 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm); (.177): H. 7 3/16 in. (18.3 cm); (.178): H. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm); (.179): H. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm)
  Gift of Loretta Hines Howard, 1964 (64.164.176–.179)
  
• 
  Nativity Scene, 18th century
  Ecuadoran, with Hispano-Philippine ivory inserts
  Bodies of wood, polychromed and gilded; faces and shoulders, ivory touched up with polychromy; (.172): H. 7 3/4 in. (19.7 cm); (.173): H. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm); (.174): L. 2 3/4 in. (7 cm)
  Gift of Loretta Hines Howard, 1964 (64.164.172–.174)
  
• 
  Nativity Group with Angel, 18th century
  Guatemalan
  Wood, polychromed and gilded, with glass eyes and silver-gilt halos; (.168ab): H. 20 in. (50.8 cm); (.169a–c): H. 20 3/4 in. (52.7 cm); (.170ab): L. 9 5/8 in. (24.4 cm); (.171a–c): H. 18 in. (45.7 cm); (.172): H. 7 3/4 in. (19.7 cm)
  Gift of Loretta Hines Howard, 1964 (64.164.168ab–.172)
  
• 
  Calvary Scene, 18th century
  Ecuadoran (Quito)
  Wood, polychromed and gilded, with glass eyes and silver attachments; (.230a–f): H. with crucifix: 44 1/2 in. (113 cm); (.231ab): H. 27 1/4 in. (69.2 cm); (.232ab): H. 27 1/4 in. (69.2 cm); (.233ab): H. 17 3/4 in. (45.1 cm)
  Gift of Loretta Hines Howard, 1964 (64.164.230–.233)
  
• 
  Virgin of Quito, second half of 18th century
  After a model by Bernardo Legarda (active 1731–73)
  Ecuadoran (Quito)
  Wood, polychromed and gilded; H. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm)
  Gift of Loretta Hines Howards, 1964 (64.164.236)
  

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Painting and sculpture workshops set up to produce images for Roman Catholic worship proliferated in Spanish America from the earliest days of Christian evangelization. Imagenes, or freestanding images of Christ, saints, and the Holy Family, were believed by European missionaries to facilitate devotion and were closely patterned after Spanish models. At times the figures were dressed in actual clothes and adorned with donated jewels. In many sculptures, however, garments were carved and painted to simulate cloth.

In some regions, the paint was scratched through in a pattern to show the metallic surface below.

Related

Timelines (6)

• Central America and the Caribbean, 1400–1600 a.d.
• Iberian Peninsula , 1600–1800 a.d.
• Maya Area, 1400–1600 a.d.
• Mexico and Central America, 1600–1800 a.d.
• Mexico, 1400–1600 a.d.
• South America, 1600–1800 a.d.

Primary Thematic Essays (4)

• Arts of the Mission Schools in Mexico
• Europe and the Age of Exploration
• Private Devotion in Medieval Christianity
• The Cult of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages

Other Thematic Essays (9)

• Andean Textiles
• Arts of the Spanish Americas, 1550-1850
• Birds of the Andes
• Colonial Kero Cups
• Dualism in Andean Art
• Late Medieval German Sculpture: Polychromy and Monochromy
• List of Rulers of Europe
• Talavera de Puebla
• The Manila Galleon Trade (1565-1815)

Maps (2)

• Europe, 1600-1800 A.D.
• World, 1600-1800 A.D.

Index Terms (11)

Art Movement/Style

• Colonial Latin America

Geography/Place

• Mexico
• The Iberian Peninsula
• Seventeenth– and Eighteenth–Century European Art

Material and Technique

• Gilt Silver
• Sculpture in the Round from Central America
• Silk Textile

Subject Matter/Theme

• Christ
• Guilds
• Christian Sculpture in the Round
• Trade (1600–1800 a.d.)

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The elaborate painted emulations of costly woven textiles called estofado (after the word estofa, meaning a type of quilted silk) involved the layering of gold or silver leaf over a gesso base, followed by an overlay of oil paint or a translucent glaze. In some regions, the paint was scratched through in a pattern to show the metallic surface below. In others, the lustrous surface was overlaid with painted gold patterns.




This production reflected the division of labor developed in Europe, with specialized guilds assigned to the carving of the wood, others to the gilding and polychromy. The selection and aging of the wood was an art in itself. Although guild regulations attempted to exclude Indians from working in these specialties, evidence shows that such rules were widely disregarded.




The Museum's small-scale sculptures are representative of a type, most often of Nativity scenes, that proliferated throughout Latin America for use in private devotion by families or confraternities.



Johanna Hecht Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Hecht, Johanna. "Polychrome Sculpture in Spanish America". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/spsc/hd_spsc.htm (October 2003) Further Reading Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries. Introduction by Octavio Paz. Exhibition catalogue.. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1990. Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)