Saint Peter of Alcántara (c. 1663–70): Art, History and Details

Saint Peter of Alcántara (c. 1663–70) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Pedro de Mena (Spanish, 1628–1688); Workshop.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Painted wood sculpture from Spain in the 1600s involved a team of artisans working under a lead sculptor. The sculptor first carved numerous pieces of wood in complex forms. So the paint would stick properly, these fragments were delicately covered in gesso (a combination of white chalk and glue made from animal collagen), preserving the subtle woodcarving underneath. The rough surface of the saint's face—reflecting his age and hardships—came from texturing the gesso with a brush. The glass eyes, probably imported from Venice, were inserted from behind the face before the wood pieces were attached. Finally, the eyelashes were added for a further touch of realism. A painter created the appearance of coarse sackcloth in a distinctive style, with yellow strokes rising off the surface. Smoother brushstrokes form the flesh tones, even revealing the saint's five-o'clock shadow. Unlike other kinds of painting, sculpture from southern Spain at this time was usually not covered in varnish; sculptors prized the unvarnished paint for its realistic effect, although it makes the surface exceptionally delicate and susceptible to dust and dirt, which more easily sticks to the surface.

Object facts

• Title: Saint Peter of Alcántara
• Date: c. 1663–70
• Creator attribution: Pedro de Mena (Spanish, 1628–1688); Workshop
• Culture: Spain
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: painted wood, with ivory and glass
• Dimensions: Overall: 72.2 x 32 x 32 cm (28 7/16 x 12 5/8 x 12 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Sculpture
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 2009.81

A detail from the museum

Peter of Alcantara was so dedicated to his work he slept only 90 minutes a night--he's the patron saint of night watchmen!

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Mann, C. Griffith. “Acquisitions 2009.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 50, no. 2 (March/April 2010): 12-27.
• Cleveland Museum of Art, David Franklin, and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012.
• Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.