Licensing Resources
Christ at the Column
second half of 18th century
2011.131
Not currently on view
Artwork Details
height 16-1/4 in. (without base)
Accession NumberMaisie Eden Power Endowment Fund
CopyrightEuropean Painting and Sculpture Before 1800
Color PaletteJosé Moreno Villa [1887-1955], Mexico City, by 1944;{1} by descent to his son, José Moreno Nieto, Mexico City; sale (Sotheby's, New York) in 2005;{2} purchased by Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York; sale (Christie's, New York) in 2010;{3} purchased by Coll & Cortés, Madrid; purchased by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2011. {1} See the short article by Moreno Villa, "Esculturas Españolas en Mexico," Letras de Mexico, 15 September 1946, p. 325, in which he attributes the sculpture to the Spanish Baroque artist Alonso Cano. There it is stated that he acquired it about two years ago from an antique dealer in Mexico City, and that it had belonged to a priest who collected religious sculptures. {2} Sotheby's, New York, Old Master paintings: including European Works of Art, 28 January 2005, lot. 270 (illustration) as southern Spanish. {3} Christie's, New York, Old Master & 19th-Century Paintings and Sculpture from the Salander-O'Reilly Galleries sold pursuant to the Plan approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, 9 June 2010, lot 268 (illustration) as Circle of Alonso Cano.
Small sculptures like this one were created for use as devotional aids by worshipers who meditated on Christ’s suffering as a means of achieving spiritual enlightenment. The idealized anatomy of the nearly nude figure of Christ emphasizes both his human condition and his divine nature, downplaying the physical effects of his torture and focusing instead on his inner torment.
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