Juan Martínez Montañés (March 16, 1568 – June 18, 1649), known as el Dios de la Madera (''the God of Wood''), was a Spanish

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, born at

Alcalá la Real Alcalá la Real is a city in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2024 INE figures, the city had a population of 21,581. Geography Alcalá la Real is situated from the provincial capital, Jaén, and from Granada, on the slopes of L ...

, in the province of Jaén. He was one of the most important figures of the Sevillian school of sculpture, and is known for developing the encarnación sculpting technique.

Biography

Juan Martínez Montañés was born on March 16, 1568, in Alcalá la Real, Jaén, Spain. His master was Pablo de Roxas. His first known work, dating to 1597, is the graceful St. Christopher in the church of El Salvador at

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. His ''Boy Christ'' (dated 1607) is in the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

of the cathedral of Seville. His masterpiece, the great altar of

St Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian priest, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known for his translation of the Bible i ...

at San Isidoro del Campo, Santiponce, near Seville, was contracted in 1609 and completed in 1613. Montañés executed most of his sculpture in wood, which was gessoed, polychromed and gilded. Other works were the great altars at Santa Clara in Seville and at San Miguel in Jerez, the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

and the realistic figure of Christ Crucified in ''Cristo de la Clemencìa'', commissioned in 1603,Its

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

was laid out in minute detail in the contract, which survives. in the sacristy of Seville cathedral (''illustration''); the figure of

St John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, and the St Bruno (1620); a tomb for Don Pérez de Guzmán and his wife (1619); the highly realistic polychromed wood head and hands of

St Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the So ...

(1610) and of

St Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative o ...

in the university church of Seville, where the costumed figures were used in celebrations. Montañés achieved great fame in his lifetime; he died in 1649, leaving a large family. His works are more realistic than imaginative, but this, allied with an impeccable taste, produced remarkable results. In 1635, in preparation for the bronze equestrian statue of King Philip IV by Pietro Tacca, Montañés went to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and spent seven months there modelling a portrait of Philip IV. The work was sent to Tacca in Florence as primary reference for the King, and the statue was finished in 1640. During his stay in Madrid he had his

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

painted by

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptised 6 June 15996 August 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the Noble court, court of King Philip IV of Spain, Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He i ...

, whose tutor had worked for him. He had many imitators, including his son Alonzo Martínez, who died in 1668. His students included Juan de Mesa.

References

* This work in turn cites: **B. Haendeke, ''Studien zur Geschichte der spanischen Plastik'' (Strassburg, 1900) **F. Gomez, ''Historia de la escultura en España'' (Madrid, 1885).

External links

Euroweb Gallery:
illustrations *
''Velázquez ''
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Juan Martínez Montañés (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez Montanes, Juan 1568 births 1649 deaths People from Alcalá la Real Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish Baroque sculptors Spanish male sculptors 16th-century Spanish sculptors 17th-century Spanish sculptors Spanish woodcarvers Catholic sculptors