THE NATIONAL GALLERY PRESENTS 'THE SACRED MADE REAL'

CREATED TO SHOCK THE SENSES AND STIR THE SOUL . . . 'THE SACRED MADE REAL' PRESENTS A LANDMARK REAPPRAISAL OF RELIGIOUS ART FROM THE SPANISH GOLDEN AGE. PAINTINGS INCLUDING MASTERPIECES BY DIEGO VELAZQUEZ AND FRANCISCO DE ZURBARAN ARE DISPLAYED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME ALONGSIDE SPAIN'S REMARKABLE 'POLYCHROME' SCULPTURES. WHILE THE RELIGIOUS PAINTINGS OF VELAZQUEZ AND ZURBARAN ARE RELATIVELY WELL KNOWN, THE POLYCHROME SCULPTURES WHICH ALSO EMERGED FROM 17th CENTURY SPAIN HAVE NEVER BEEN THE SUBJECTS OF A MAJOR EXHIBITION. STILL PASSIONATELY VENERATED IN MONASTERIES, CHURCHES AND PROCESSIONS ACROSS THE IBERIAN PENINSULA, VERY FEW OF THESE SCULPTURES HAVE EVER BEEN EXHIBITED OVERSEAS. ON VIEW 21.OCTOBER.2009 THROUGH 24.JANUARY.2010 AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY IN LONDON.
DURING THE SPANISH COUNTER-REFORMATION, RELIGIOUS PATRONS, PARTICULARLY THE DOMINICAN, CARTHUSIAN AND FRANCISCAN ORDERS, CHALLENGED PAINTERS AND SCULPTURES TO BRING THE SACRED TO LIFE, TO INSPIRE BOTH CHRISTIAN DEVOTION AND THE EMULATION OF THE SAINTS. THIS EXHIBITION BRINGS TOGETHER SOME OF THE FINEST DEPICTIONS OF KEY CHRISTIAN THEMES INCLUDING THE PASSION OF CHRIST, THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AND THE PORTRAYAL OF SAINTS, NOTABLY PEDRO DE MENA'S AUSTERE RENDITION OF SAINT FRANCIS STANDING IN MEDITATION, WHICH HAS NEVER BEFORE LEFT THE SACRISTY OF TOLEDO CATHEDRAL. BY INSTALLING 16 POLYCHROME SCULPTURES AND 16 PAINTINGS SIDE BY SIDE, THE EXHIBITION AIMS TO SHOW THAT THE 'HYPER-REALISTIC" APPROACH OF PAINTERS SUCH AS VELAZQUEZ AND ZURBARAN WAS CLEARLY INFORMED BY THEIR FAMILIARITY, AND IN SOME CASES DIRECT INVOLVEMENT, THE SCULPTURE.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.nationalgallery.org.uk