It is the fate of the followers of a great master that their talent is almost always expressed in imitation, rather than in original work. Occupied with the glory that has been achieved, they forget that personality is the only living quality in art; that, however capably they may follow, they cannot reach the height that has already been gained. Thus the result of imitation must always be decay. But the renown of the Sevillian school was for a time maintained by a band of really capable sculptors, who, had they lived earlier, before Monta?és instead of after, might have been masters and not merely followers. We must now consider their work.
The sculptors most immediately connected with Monta?és were Solis, of whom we have spoken already; the Abbot Juan Gomez, one of his earliest pupils; Alonso Martinez, an architect and{143} master carpenter of Seville Cathedral; Luis Ortiz, a sculptor of Malaga; and Alonso de Mena, who came from Granada. These five men all worked as pupils in the studio of Monta?és, and to a greater or less extent adapted their talent to copying the qualities of their master. Indeed Solis and the Abbot Juan Gomez appropriated so well his style that considerable confusion as to the authorship of their works has arisen.
Born in Jaen, Solis came to Seville in the year 1617, and assisted Monta?és in the execution of the statues of St. Bruno, the Virgin, and St. John the Baptist for the Carthusians of Santa Maria de las Cuevas, which are now in the Museum of Seville. It is probable, as we stated in the last chapter, that the statues were carved by Solis from the wax models of Monta?és. La Justicia (Plate 148) and the Four Cardinal Virtues, executed for the same monastery, and now also in the museum, were the personal work of Solis: in this work he shows that, apart from his power of imitation, he possessed talent of his own which entitles him to recognition. It is a polychrome of real merit, well conceived and well executed.
Even greater confusion has arisen with regard to the authorship of the works of the Abbot Juan{144} Gomez, of which Seville has numerous examples. Even Cean Bermudez places among the original works of Monta?és a Jesus of Nazareth of the Convent of San Agustine, which to-day is in the Priory Church, although the archives prove the Abbot Gomez to be its author. This work is proof of the capability of the pupil. He does even greater credit to his master in his life-size Crucifixion, executed in 1616 for the town of La Campa?a. M. Marcel Dieulafoy says of this work: “It is a faithful copy of those of Monta?és, and like them extremely beautiful.” Unfortunately the carving has suffered greatly from bad restoration.
Alonso Martinez carved, with Francisco de Ribas, the altar-screen of the Chapel of San Pablo in the cathedral, and it is to his hand we owe a very beautiful polychromed figure of the Virgin (Plate 149). Alonso de Mena, a sculptor whose fame has been overshadowed by his son Pedro, the disciple of Alonso Cano, carved many works for the churches of Alpujaras; in addition he executed for the Chapel of the Kings two large buffets of which the folding doors are ornamented with eight excellent medallions of the Queens and Kings of Spain.
To Luis Ortiz we owe the earliest of the cathedral stalls at Malaga, which were carved by him in{145} 1630 in collaboration with Josef Micael. He was also the author of the altar-screen of the royal chapel of Nuestra Se?ora de los Reyes. The two brothers Francisco Ruiz and Juan Antonio Gixon were taught their art by Alfonso Martinez. Antonio Gixon was professor, and later director, of the Academy of Seville, founded by Murillo. Francisco Ruiz remodelled, after Monta?és, the dying Christ (Plate 150) which is in the church at Triana, a suburb of Seville. It is a very beautiful carving, which bears comparison with the master’s Crucifixion in the cathedral. The polychrome also is harmonious, equal to the finest work of the masters of that art. Indeed the merit of this unknown statue is surprising when the late period at which it was undertaken is remembered.
But the art of sculpture still had strong life in Seville, and the school was to produce another master to continue the traditions of Monta?és. Pedro Roldan was born in Seville in 1624, and he learnt his art in the studio of Monta?és, working afterwards in the Academy of Seville. He is the pupil who did the master the greatest credit: he may even be said to have surpassed him in the art of composition. No one else among the Southern sculptors had his power of grouping{146} a number of figures. His two masterpieces—one in the parish church of the cathedral, the other in the Hospital de la Caridad—are veritable pictures in relief. They are the finest altar-screens in Seville, and must be compared with the works of Gregorio Hernandez and Juni, the masters of the Northern schools.
The cathedral altar-screen is a bas-relief representing the Descent from the Cross. The Virgin supports the body of the Christ, and around them are grouped St. John and several disciples, the Magdalen, and the holy women. The figures are larger than life-size. In the ............