Lot

57

Bernardo de Legarda (Quito, Ecuador, circa 1770 - 1773)

In Viceregal Masters. Allegories, legends and san...

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Barcelona

Bernardo de Legarda (Quito, Ecuador, circa 1770 - 1773)
‘Martyrdom of Saint Barbara’.
Carved, polychromed and gilded wooden relief.
35,5 x 27 x 3,5 cm.
Wonderful relief, in which Legarda magnificently narrates the dramatic moment in which the saint is about to be beheaded, while a lightning bolt is about to fall on her executioner, killing him. Next to her is the tower in which her father, Dioscorus, had her locked up to protect her from being harassed by suitors. Before entering the tower the saint baptised herself in a pool. She escaped, but was arrested and brought before the judge Martinianus, who condemned her to death. In this relief, the tower, according to tradition, has three windows to recall the words of the saint, who stated that the light had entered her through the three windows of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The relief is an example of absolute mastery as well as virtuosity in polychromy. The characters are dressed in rich and elaborate robes in vivid colours, with polychrome brushwork of flowers enriched with motifs painted in gold. It is ornamented down to the smallest detail. It is presented in its original carved, wooden, niche type frame, which even has its inner edge decorated with a border of flowers.
Bernardo Legada, an enormously talented sculptor and painter, stands out as one of the most important artists of the Viceroyalty of Ecuador.
The magnitude, variety and aesthetic quality of his work is unparalleled in the entire viceregal period. Legarda, while consolidating the validity of the Quito School as a differentiated style, is a pioneer in the vision of the artist as an individual.
When we speak of this Master we usually think only of his free-standing sculptures, but Legarda is perhaps one of the few artists of the South American region who inherited the multidisciplinary versatility of the first artists who arrived or developed in Latin America, as was the master Bernardo Bitti, one of the three pillars of viceregal art in South America at the end of the XVI century. He was an outstanding and fine sculptor, prolific image maker, skilled painter, painstaking gilder, silversmith and mirror maker.His workshop, large and prosperous, located near San Francisco, was a centre of great activity. There is a large number of artworks by the master Bernardo de Legarda in the different churches in the capital of Ecuador that attest to his genius. Amongst his most important artworks is the main altarpiece of the Church of La Merced in Quito, as well as the altarpiece of the Temple of the Jesuits.

This relief is especially remarkable because there are very few artworks by Legarda on the market today, and even fewer with this type of relief carving.

Its small size and quality, together with its magnificent polychromy, make this relief a coveted jewel that could certainly be a museum piece. 

The sweet expressions of the characters, who seem oblivious to the scene depicted where Saint Barbara is about to have her throat slit, are classic Legarda.  This type of expression and idealised faces reminiscent of porcelain dolls are repeated over and over again in his sculpture. It is sufficient to see just some of his works to notice that this was undoubtedly the great Master of kind, serene and sweet faces.

We take two artworks by the author as typological references of his relief carving. On the one hand, a relief sculptural ensemble conceived within its own niche, representing the Apocalyptic Immaculate Virgin with a choir of angels, in the BEAEP Cultural Center Museum. And on the other hand, an exquisite relief sculpture of a larger size representing the Assumption of Mary, in the Church of San Francisco, in Quito, Ecuador.  Furthermore, when analysing the carving, we compared its clothing, polychromy and sweet features with those of the Archangel Saint Gabriel in the same church in Quito; and also with the Archangel Saint Michael of the Primate Cathedral of Quito, whose sweet face is especially reminiscent of that of the Saint Barbara we have here.

Bernardo de Legarda (Quito, Ecuador, circa 1770 - 1773)
‘Martyrdom of Saint Barbara’.
Carved, polychromed and gilded wooden relief.
35,5 x 27 x 3,5 cm.
Wonderful relief, in which Legarda magnificently narrates the dramatic moment in which the saint is about to be beheaded, while a lightning bolt is about to fall on her executioner, killing him. Next to her is the tower in which her father, Dioscorus, had her locked up to protect her from being harassed by suitors. Before entering the tower the saint baptised herself in a pool. She escaped, but was arrested and brought before the judge Martinianus, who condemned her to death. In this relief, the tower, according to tradition, has three windows to recall the words of the saint, who stated that the light had entered her through the three windows of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The relief is an example of absolute mastery as well as virtuosity in polychromy. The characters are dressed in rich and elaborate robes in vivid colours, with polychrome brushwork of flowers enriched with motifs painted in gold. It is ornamented down to the smallest detail. It is presented in its original carved, wooden, niche type frame, which even has its inner edge decorated with a border of flowers.
Bernardo Legada, an enormously talented sculptor and painter, stands out as one of the most important artists of the Viceroyalty of Ecuador.
The magnitude, variety and aesthetic quality of his work is unparalleled in the entire viceregal period. Legarda, while consolidating the validity of the Quito School as a differentiated style, is a pioneer in the vision of the artist as an individual.
When we speak of this Master we usually think only of his free-standing sculptures, but Legarda is perhaps one of the few artists of the South American region who inherited the multidisciplinary versatility of the first artists who arrived or developed in Latin America, as was the master Bernardo Bitti, one of the three pillars of viceregal art in South America at the end of the XVI century. He was an outstanding and fine sculptor, prolific image maker, skilled painter, painstaking gilder, silversmith and mirror maker.His workshop, large and prosperous, located near San Francisco, was a centre of great activity. There is a large number of artworks by the master Bernardo de Legarda in the different churches in the capital of Ecuador that attest to his genius. Amongst his most important artworks is the main altarpiece of the Church of La Merced in Quito, as well as the altarpiece of the Temple of the Jesuits.

This relief is especially remarkable because there are very few artworks by Legarda on the market today, and even fewer with this type of relief carving.

Its small size and quality, together with its magnificent polychromy, make this relief a coveted jewel that could certainly be a museum piece. 

The sweet expressions of the characters, who seem oblivious to the scene depicted where Saint Barbara is about to have her throat slit, are classic Legarda.  This type of expression and idealised faces reminiscent of porcelain dolls are repeated over and over again in his sculpture. It is sufficient to see just some of his works to notice that this was undoubtedly the great Master of kind, serene and sweet faces.

We take two artworks by the author as typological references of his relief carving. On the one hand, a relief sculptural ensemble conceived within its own niche, representing the Apocalyptic Immaculate Virgin with a choir of angels, in the BEAEP Cultural Center Museum. And on the other hand, an exquisite relief sculpture of a larger size representing the Assumption of Mary, in the Church of San Francisco, in Quito, Ecuador.  Furthermore, when analysing the carving, we compared its clothing, polychromy and sweet features with those of the Archangel Saint Gabriel in the same church in Quito; and also with the Archangel Saint Michael of the Primate Cathedral of Quito, whose sweet face is especially reminiscent of that of the Saint Barbara we have here.

Viceregal Masters. Allegories, legends and sanctity.

Sale Date(s)
Lots: 112
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Tags: Sculpture, Carving