After a model by JUAN DE MESA y VELASCO

(Córdoba 1583-1627 Sevilla) 

The Child Christ Triumphant

c. 1625

Cast lead and polychrome figure on a carved and painted wood base.Figure ht.16 ¼  x w.7 x d. 6 ½  inches; base 4 ½ x 9 1/8 x 6 5/8  inches 

The popularity of a 1606-7 sculpture of the standing Christ Child by Juan Martínez Montañés spawned a market for replicas and other versions made for both buyers in Spain and for export to the New World.   

Thanks to research by several scholars over the past decades, we have some information about the foundries and casts, and also the market for these replicas.  

Juan de Mesa (Córdoba 1583-1627 Seville) was the most advanced sculptor in Montañés’s workshop, and beginning in 1611 he introduced some variations to the slender and idealized figure by Martínez Montañés.  Basically, he made the Child’s body slightly more corpulent, and the baby tummy more pronounced. Another innovation was the more exaggerated formation of the curls at the Child’s forehead. Our sculpture is identical (except for its base) to a work in the Museu Frederic Marès, allowing us to give it a secure circa date of 1625.