Saint Andrew, Spain End of the 16th century

Spanish school of the end of the 16th century for this carved wood with interesting remains of polychromy in estofado. The aesthetic representation announces the Spanish Baroque movement, with a sculpture based on the expressiveness of the face and the taste for the movement of the drapery.
The sculpture is executed in the round. It represents Saint Andrew standing, holding in his right hand a bag which we can guess contains a Book, symbol of Knowledge and which recalls his role as Apostle of Christ.
It is the presence of the X-shaped cross on his right that defines the iconography of the Saint. A very old tradition tells of the death of Andrew in Patras, where he also suffered the torture of crucifixion. However, at the supreme moment, just like his brother Peter, he asked to be placed on a different cross from that of Jesus. In his case, it is a cross whose transverse crossing is inclined, which was therefore called "Saint Andrew's cross".
The powerful body shape, the long bifid beard with wavy curls, the frown of the glabella giving the face a deeply moving character... All these elements allow us to compare our sculpture to the workshop of Jean de Joigny, a famous Franco-Spanish sculptor of the 16th century, also known under the Hispanicized name Juan de Juni (1506 - 1577)

Dimensions
H. 86 cm x W. 30 cm x D. 24 cm

Spanish school to be compared to the workshop of Juan de Juni (1506 - 1577)
End of the 16th century