Gilded Figures: Wood and Clay Made Flesh

Get a rare glimpse of one of the major art forms of the Hispanic World from 1500 to 1800—polychrome sculpture. The Hispanic Museum & Library is hosting the first exhibit in New York to feature this kind of art in two decades. Over 20 sculptures, including major works by women artists such as Luisa Roldán and Andrea de Mena, show how the stylistic conventions of Spain were adapted in the New World. Among the works on view, visitors will see a monumental relief of the Resurrection attributed to Gil de Siloe, 16th-century reliquary busts by Juan de Juni and "St. Acisclus" by Pedro de Mena. A section of gilded figures will showcase sculptures from Latin America characterized by an impressive range of scale and emotion, including a 16th-century relief of Santiago Matamoros (St. James the moorslayer) from Mexico and the "Virgin of Quito" or "St. Michael" as well as Caspicara’s "Four Fates of Man." Expect to see works by El Greco, Velázquez, Goya, and Sorolla; sculpture by Pedro de Mena and Luisa Roldán; Latin American paintings and sculpture by Vázquez, Luis Juárez, López de Arteaga, Rodríguez Juárez, Caspicara, Campeche, and Arrieta.