Lorenzo Mercadante de Bretaña

Lorenzo Mercadante or Lorenzo Mercadante de Bretaña was a Breton sculptor active in the second half of the 15th century. Between 1454 and 1467 he worked in the

Cathedral of Seville The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See ( es, Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along ...

, where he executed the sepulchre of Cardinal

Juan de Cervantes Juan de Cervantes (c. 1380 or 1382 in Seville, Spain – 25 November 1453, buried in Seville Cathedral) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. Cervantes studied at the University of Salamanca and obtained a doctorate in civil and canon law ...

(1458) and the decoration of the portals of Christ's Birth and Baptism (''Nacimiento'' and ''Bautismo'', 1464–67). By using fired

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

and

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

he achieved a great naturalness and softness in his figures. His style influenced Sevillian sculpture in the last part of the Late Gothic era, and represented the transition to the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

. Other outstanding works of his, all in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, are a

Saint Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

now in the

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (, English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is a museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina M ...

in Barcelona, another Saint Michael discovered in 1999 in Sanlúcar la Mayor, and a

Virgin and Child In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent ...

, originally in

Fregenal de la Sierra Fregenal de la Sierra (originally Frexnal or Frexenal) is a municipality located in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. Geography Fregenal de la Sierra is located in the Sierra Suroeste comarca (county), among the small hills and ravi ...

, now in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercadante, Lorenzo Andalusian culture 15th-century French sculptors French male sculptors