Sevillian school of sculpture

The Sevillian school of sculpture—the tradition of Christian religious sculpture in Seville, Andalusia, Spain—began in the 13th century, formed a clear tradition of its own in the 16th century, and continues into the present. The sculptures are generally worked in wood in a technique known as encarnación

During the Reconquista, Seville was taken by Ferdinand III of Castile in 1248. From that time, both sculptures in the then-current Gothic style and sculptors working in that style began arriving in the city, the Romanesque influences were also still present. The Gothic influences came particularly from France, which also had important influence in other cultural, political, and religious respects. Among the sculptures that date from this time are the Virgen de la Sede ("Virgin of the [Ecclesiastical] Seat," that is, of the Cathedral of Seville), the Virgen de las Batallas ("Virgin of the Battles", also in the cathedral) and the Virgen de los Reyes ("Virgin of the Kings"), patroness of the city, whose clothing, hair, and articulation to allow movement would spawn many imitations.

Important works in the following century included the crucified Saint Peter in Sanlúcar la Mayor and the Virgen de los Milagros ("Virgin of the Miracles") in the La Rábida Monastery.

The late 15th century brought significant developments for sculpture in Seville. The influence of the early 15th century Dutch sculptor Claus Sluter arrived by way of Burgundy, where Dutch painter Jan van Eyck was working in the court of Duke Philip the Good. Lorenzo Mercadante, working in the Seville Cathedral, created a series of marble and terracotta sculptures representing this aesthetic. Pedro Millán carried on this tradition, and was its most important exponent in Seville, creating such works as the Virgen del Pilar ("Virgin of the Pillar") at the cathedral—with iconography distinct from the Aragonese iconography of the time—and the groups Varón de Dolores ("Man of Sorrows") and Llanto sobre Cristo muerto ("Lament Over the Dead Christ", pictured above), now in the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville. The great altarpiece of the Seville Cathedral is architecturally Gothic; over the course of a century it acquired thousands of figures arranged in various sacred stories, created by important artists, and which are worked with utmost care even when they are placed very far up in the structure.

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