This sculpture of San Isidro Labrador contrasts with the habitual representations of the holy farmer, since it is not the manner by which he is usually identified. His unusual attire and the absence of his attributes that remind one of his life, such as the hoe, wheat stalks or the plow pulled by mules give him an exceptional singularity. It is actually very likely that this sculpture represents him as a benefactor of water, given that his posture seems to evidence it, that he is not planting, nor is the soil he is standing on favorable for farming. He should carry a goad, hoe or cane in his left hand, which he uses to beat the rocky ground.[1] The carving portrayed the instrument - now disappeared - with a certain dignity, given that the position of the halfway lifted arm manifests it in this way. He is looking downward, as if he is complacently observing the miraculous spurt coming out of the previously sterile rock. We see that his left foot is well set pointing forward, while the right one is about to take the following step over the rugged terrain that serves as a stand for him. Each one of the rock faces and their bumps were carved with care. He is wearing short shoes and a type of black doublet or smock with a skirt with two golden buttons on the chest. Sandals (or boots) were created for him that were open at the tips, which leave the toes free. The sculpture's gesture, as well as its clothing, seem to derive from or be inspired by the model of the scene from the picture "San Isidro making the fountain spring", from Juan Carreño de Miranda, which is disseminated in etchings.[2] Although it was most common to represent the saint with a beard, it should be ed that he was a young man when he used to open wells.
Although there are no signs of water in the sculpture, the fact that it was represented beardless perhaps ratifies the idea of San Isidrio as a provider of vital liquid, given that tradition maintains the memory that during his youth this activity was "his first public exercise”;[3] that of finding subterranean waters and opening wells precisely above the hard rocks. The water he made gush from many springs has always been considered propitiatory and drinkable, but also as medicine. In our days there are several sites where the fountains continue providing it, as in the chapel that bears his name in Madrid - where the saint is from - which tradition holds as his old house of work, which today is a destination for pilgrimages. The fame of San Isidro was fertile in the agricultural world of New Spain. He has been invoked since then in the productive region of Puebla-Tlaxcala as a protector of crops, and it is still frequently possible to see a peasant pattern sculpture in barns. His worship was prolific in the seventeenth century and mainly throughout the eighteenth century. The information of this sculpture seems to correspond to this latter time.
The size of the image indicates to us that it was destined for domestic worship. In spite of its reduced dimensions, the work of the piece is good, and the realistic technique with which it was worked stands out. The carver placed glass eyes, created bony protuberances, veins and ts. In addition, he gave detail to the gestures and factions of the face, on the muscular tension both of the neck as well as the chest, the arms, the hands and feet that were worked with a desire for naturalism, in which even the nails of each finger were simulated. This particularity was complemented with a sound and subtle incarnation, in which there was a nuance and combination of colors to contrast or accent shades in different parts of the skin and the body of the sculptural form, which reaffirm the realism. We cannot say the same about the work in the polychrome of the robes, given that it is monochromatic. However, there is a set of shades and lights that are produced due to the effect of the movement in the cloths and creases of the doublet that were beheld through deep cracks, which in some way refer to the temporary assignment we give to it. In this respect, we cannot discard that these simple carving forms were created to merely tidy up the image either, and that it was intended to be coated with natural tissues.
[1]. Fernandez Montes, 2003: 128-129.
[2]. Arte y devocion. Estampas y retablos madrileños de los siglos XVII y XVIII en las iglesias madrileñas, 1990: 84.
[3]. Joseph de la Cruz, 1790: 20.
Sources:
Arte y devocion. Estampas y retablos madrileños de los siglos XVII y XVIII en las iglesias madrileñas, [s.l., s.e.], 1990.
Fernandez Montes, Matilde, El agua en las tradiciones madrileñas, Madrid, [s.e.], 2003.
Joseph de la Cruz, Nicolas, Life of San Isidro Labrador, saint of Madrid, together with his wife, Santa Maria de la Cabeza, Madrid, [s.e.], 1790.
This sculpture of San Isidro Labrador contrasts with the habitual representations of the holy farmer, since it is not the manner by which he is usually identified. His unusual attire and the absence of his attributes that remind one of his life, such as the hoe, wheat stalks or the plow pulled by mules give him an exceptional singularity. It is actually very likely that this sculpture represents him as a benefactor of water, given that his posture seems to evidence it, that he is not planting, nor is the soil he is standing on favorable for farming. He should carry a goad, hoe or cane in his left hand, which he uses to beat the rocky ground.
[1] The carving portrayed the instrument - now disappeared - with a certain dignity, given that the position of the halfway lifted arm manifests it in this way. He is looking downward, as if he is complacently observing the miraculous spurt coming out of the previously sterile rock. We see that his left foot is well set pointing forward, while the right one is about to take the following step over the rugged terrain that serves as a stand for him. Each one of the rock faces and their bumps were carved with care. He is wearing short shoes and a type of black doublet or smock with a skirt with two golden buttons on the chest. Sandals (or boots) were created for him that were open at the tips, which leave the toes free. The sculpture's gesture, as well as its clothing, seem to derive from or be inspired by the model of the scene from the picture "San Isidro making the fountain spring", from Juan Carreño de Miranda, which is disseminated in etchings.
[2] Although it was most common to represent the saint with a beard, it should be ed that he was a young man when he used to open wells.
