St. Paul, 17th century
Please sign in so that we can notify you about a reply
17th century St. Paul Polychrome and gilded wood, 130 x 66 cm The sculpture analyzed here shows a strong plastic and volumetric vigor that gives a sense of immediate naturalism: the pronounced drapery of the clothes, the torsion of the body, the careful investigation of the features of the face underline this aspect, linked to the posttridentine dictates of sacred images aimed at touching the soul of the faithful with immediacy and decorum. The physical might is reflected in the moral height of this Saint Paul, with a face absorbed in a profound meditation which is then projected into the wrinkled forehead. Songs of technical virtuosity by the seventeenth-century sculptor who worked here are evident in the wavy rendering of the thick beard and curls