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Pablo Cano Sanz Estudio histórico artístico PÁTINA. Junio 2016. Nº 19, pp. 45-63. ISSN: 1133-2972 46 A sculpture of Juan Alonso Villabrille y Ron for the Madrid Capuchins: Saint Felix of Cantalice This article reveals an unknown work by Juan Alonso Villabrille y Ron (c. 1663-c. 1732), a sculptural ensemble realised in polychrome wood representing Saint Felix of Cantalice. The carving originally belonged to the Convent of San Antonio del Prado in Madrid and can now be seen in the cloister of the monastery of the Capuchins of Salamanca. This cultural asset has lost three of its four figures and is in poor condition. It also suffered a number of acts of vandalism during the Spanish Civil War, particularly to the hands, whereby the effigy cannot be seen in its true splendour. It has also lost its polychrome effect in certain places and is generally dirty, making an immediate restoration process advisable. There is no documentary evidence as to when it was commissioned, but it must have been before 29 September 1713, because throughout that day it was carried on a processional platform through the city and court of Madrid on the occasion of the canonisation of the saint. The sculpture should be considered, at its origin at least, as one of the most important pieces produced by this Asturian maker of religious images, confirming Villabrille’s status as a prestigious sculptor during the first third of the eighteenth century. Keywords Sculpture, Baroque, Juan Alonso de Villabrille y Ron, 18th century, Luis Salvador Carmona, Madrid
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