Title
Bishop Saint
Generic classification
SculptureObject
SculptureDate
ca. 1500Century
Early 16th c.Cultural context / style
End of the Gothic period and beginning of the RenaissanceDimensions
39 3/4 x 13 1/2 x 7 5/8 inMaterial
StoneTechnique
PolychromeIconography / Theme
ObispoProvenance
Possible origin from Castile and Leon (Castilla y León, Possible origin from Castile and Leon, Spain)Current location
Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester (Rochester, United States)Inventory Number in Current Collection
1923.9Object history
When the piece became part of the museum's collections it was classified as a 14th century French work from the cathedral of Amiens (Sutton, 1977). In contrast, Joan Holladay (2016) considers that it should be associated with the Castilian environment. She states that "the square face with large eyes set wide apart and described by a long curve over a straight lower lid resembles the figure of Temperance from the tomb of Beltrán de la Cueva at Cuéllar". Both the shape of the heavy folds and the treatment of the bishop's pluvial cloak refer to some figures from the tombs of Beltrán de la Cueva (Proske, 1973) and Mencía Enríquez, both originally located in the convent of San Francisco in Cuéllar (Segovia). Those funerary sets were made in the early 16th century, so they coincide chronologically with this piece. Although Holladay (2016) hypothesized that the sculpture came from Cuéllar, it is not possible to confirm this; however, we do consider that its origin is in the Castilian area.
We do not know when and how the piece was exported, but it ended up in the hands of the Belgian antique dealer and collector Georges Joseph Demotte, who had antique stores in Paris and New York. In 1923, shortly before his death, he gave the piece to the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, where it is currently located.
Description
The sculpture represents a bishop dressed in sumptuous ecclesiastical vestments. His figure looks straight ahead while raising one hand in a gesture of blessing and holding a crosier with the other. As for its state of preservation, it has a diagonal crack across the knees, small cracks in the base and the loss of several fingers of the hand that wields the crosier. Remains of blue and red polychrome can still be seen in the folds of the vestments. It is possible that the piece was conceived to occupy a place in a sepulcher given its dimensions.
Locations
XVIth c.
1923
dealer/antiquarian
Georges Joseph Demotte, Paris (France) *
ca. 1923 - present
Bibliography
- GILMAN PROSKE, Beatrice (1973): "The tomb of Beltrán de la Cueva de Cuéllar", vol. II, en España entre el Mediterráneo y el Atlántico, Actas del XXIII C.I.H.A., Universidad de Granada, Granada, pp. 385-392.
- HOLLADAY, Joan y WARD, Susan (eds.) (2016): Gothic Sculpture in America: The Museums of New York and Pennsylvania, vol. III, International Center of Medieval Art, Nueva York, pp. 188-189.
- LENAGHAN, Patrick (2015): "The Tombs from San Francisco in Cuéllar. Sacred Images in Digital Reconstructions", vol. 16, nº 5, Hispanic Research Journal: Iberian and Latin American Studies, pp. 379-402.
- MARCOS VILLÁN, Miguel Ángel (1998): "Acerca de los sepulcros de alabastro de la iglesia del convento de San Francisco de Cuéllar (Segovia), panteón de don Beltrán de la Cueva, I Duque de Alburquerque", nº XVI, Boletín del Museo Arqueológico Nacional, pp. 199-220.
- MERINO DE CÁCERES, José Miguel (1991): "Un armorial pétreo de los Alburquerque, de Cuéllar, en Miami", vol. 32, nº 88, Estudios segovianos, pp. 109-128.
- SUTTON, Denys (1977): Treasures from Rochester: Exhibited at Wildenstein Galleries, New York, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, p. 9.
Record manager
Isabel Escalera FernándezCitation:
Isabel Escalera Fernández, "Bishop Saint" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/391
