De Mena carved several busts of the suffering mother and son, often displayed together as a pair, as is the case here. The shape and size indicate that they were created for close, personal inspection in a small space - probably a private chapel -, where the spectator could move around the object in contemplation, prior to prayer. The gruesome hyper-realism of these sculptures was designed to elicit a deepened emotional response and possibly even horror, as part of the religious experience.

De Mena captures the expression of both figures with extraordinary skill, demonstrating his virtuoso manipulation of the materials he uses, both as a sculptor and painter. He was one of the first generation of sculptors who were not forced to subcontract the painting of sculptures to specialists under guild rules. The remarkably lifelike quality of De Mena’s sculptures tied in seamlessly with the intense faith for which the artist was known among his contemporaries. No surprise then that the Spanish Inquisition elected him as a censor of religious images in both Granada and Málaga in 1678, as a ‘Familiar de la Inquisición’.

Ruud Priem