The Startling Realism of a 17th-Century Sculpture

His name is Saint Ginés de la Jara. He’s a six-foot-tall likeness of his namesake (more on him later), rendered in hyperrealistic detail.

How did his 17th-century artists accomplish this level of realism roughly 300 years ago? Let’s take a closer look.

The first thing to know about this sculpture is that realism was the point.

Saint Ginés de La Jara is carved in a style called Spanish Baroque. His life size and heightened realism were designed to strike an emotional chord and bring his well-known story to life for his audience in a time before movies, TV, or even photography.

He’s depicted with his mouth open and left hand mid-gesture as if he was frozen in time while giving a sermon.

His wrinkled brow and earnest expression were sculpted, as was the rest of the figure, by Luisa Roldán, one of the most celebrated and prolific sculptors of the 1600s.

But, Roldán was not always credited as this sculpture’s artist. Listen below to hear the fascinating story of Getty art historian Maite Alvarez’s journey to Spain to set the record straight.

However, Roldán is not the only artist involved in creating this statue. Look closely at his eyes. This bit of realism comes via glass prosthetics—likely imported from Venice, Italy where most were produced in the 1600s.

Likewise, while Roldán's delicate sculpting give the hands the suggestion of raised veins and bones beneath the skin, they were painted by another artist: her brother-in-law Tomás de los Arcos.

De los Arcos created realistic flesh tones using oil paints tinted with lead white, indigo, cochineal powder, and charcoal applied in a layering technique called Encarnaciones.

Together, Arcos and Roldán created a figure so lifelike it’s almost surprising, even for modern audiences, to discover that the sculpture is, in fact, made out of wood.

Take a look at this view of the interior of the sculpture. Various cuts of wood—pine and cedar—are bound together using flat joints to create a three-dimensional structure.

His head and other extremities were carved separately and attached with nails and wooden dowels, visible here in this x-rays taken when Saint Ginés de la Jara charmed viewers during a 2009 Getty exhibition.

His 17th-century visitors were more intimately familiar with the legend of Saint Ginés de la Jara represented in details like his bare, worn feet.

Once a French nobleman, de la Jara renounced his wealth and title when, so the legend goes, he was saved from drowning by a miracle. In gratitude, he spent the next 25 years penniless (and presumably shoeless), doing penitence on his knees in a makeshift shelter built by angels.

The miracle that saved him from shipwreck? His garment turned into a boat and ferried him to shore. Perhaps a garment like the one his likeness wears.

De los Arcos created this illusion of miraculously rich black fabric and gold brocade using the Spanish technique called estofado. First, he covered the carved “garment” in gold leaf, painted over it with brown tempera paint, then used specialized tools to reveal the gold underneath.

And, with that intricate 17th-century technique in mind, take a look at the back of the robe. It’s a view that you might forget to appreciate in the gallery. But, as for any statue, always walk around to check the other view points.