This exhibition, which presents a selected sample of the wonderful sculpture collection of the National Museum of Sculpture (Museo Nacional de Escultura) from Valladolid, takes a stroll through the centuries of the heyday of Spanish sculpture. It affords an insight into a carefully selected range of the biggest names within sculpture of that era: the pioneers that brought the beginnings of Flemish realism and the Italian Renaissance to Castile – Alonso Berruguete belongs among them –, and the foreigners, who like Juan de Juni, settled in this territory ... In Spain, which was spurred on by the great Imperial drive on its conquering trips to Flanders, Italy and the New World, there is practically no end in sight to the continuous exchange of artists, techniques and works.
The polychromed figure in wood represents one of the foundations of Spain’s cultural heritage. Wood is a living and malleable sculpting material which, in its modesty and impurity, offers coarsely shaped, imperfect products, yet also has the capacity to express the corporeal in a refined manner, especially if it is dressed in gold and appropriately polychromed. In the tense and harrowing atmosphere of wars and religious discords, artistry and non-artistry intermingled and spoke to the people from the most diverse cultural classes. The religious image took on new cultural and aesthetic experiences, without giving up its transcendental quality.
We wish the artworks in this exhibition to speak directly to the visitors. With its mystery and zeal, the latter offers us a new way of facing the past, offering a wide range of different interpretations, in which the visitor of today will also discover a veritable treasure trove of imagination.
For the exhibition 23 sculptures were selected, which presents 6 topics: The Medieval World, The Castilian Renaissance: Alonso Berruguete, From the Renaissance to the Baroque: Juan de Juni and Gregorio Fernández, The Flourishing of the Baroque in Castile: Gregorio Fernández, Baroque in Andalusia and Beginning of the 18th century.
Exhibition project
Narodna galerija
Veleposlaništvo Španije v Sloveniji
Authors of the exhibition
María Bolaños
Manuel Arias Martínez
Miguel Ángel Marcos Villán
Coordinators
Mateja Breščak, Narodna galerija
Sergi Farré, Maria Pilar Ycaza Murn, Veleposlaništvo Španije v Sloveniji
Exhibition set-up
Ranko Novak
The exhibition was supported by
Narodna galerija; Narodni muzej kiparstva, Valladolid; Ministrstvo za izobraževanje, znanost, kulturo in šport Republike Slovenije; Ministrstvo za šolstvo, kulturo in šport Španije; Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve in sodelovanje Španije – AECID; Veleposlaništvo Španije v Sloveniji
11 October 2012–10 January 2013
National Gallery of Slovenia
Prešernova 24
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia