On Friday 09 January 2026, our course on the Golden Age of Spanish Art with Jennifer continued with an examination of the sculptors and the polychromers who painted the statues.

This session concentrated on the works of Francisco Pacheco, a polychromer who was not particularly famous but was widely respected in the world of art. We know what Pacheco looked like as he was painted by Velazquez in 1622. His work was considered by some at the time to be in support of cultism, something that had been rejected by the Council of Trent which had constrained some of his output.

We next learned about the sculptor Juan Martinez Montanes, who had also been painted by Velazquez, and had been known as “The God of Wood”. We saw examples of the enormous altar pieces Montanes had carved, and which had been painted by Pacheco. Interestingly, the sculptors were not allowed to paint their sculptures, as that skill was strictly retained by the guild of polychromers. The polychromers were allowed to paint paintings as well as sculptures as there was not the same restriction by the guild of painters. Jennifer introduced us to his most famous carving – Christ of Clemency – a work for which the detailed specification is still preserved.

Our third artist for this session was Francisco de Zurbaran, a painter that had specialised in images depicting the crucifixion. There are small but important differences in how artists were required to present this subject through the years, and Jennifer had sufficient examples for the differences to be seen and understood.

After the break to teas and coffees, we resumed with an examination of the horses in both paintings and in statues produced by Spanish and Italian artists, with particular emphasis on the engineering for a statue to show a horse standing on just its hind legs.

Our next session is on 23 January 2026 at 10:00am and will feature “The Visionary Experience” in art.