PEREYRA, Manuel - b. 1588 Porto, d. 1683 Madrid - WGA

PEREYRA, Manuel

(b. 1588 Porto, d. 1683 Madrid)

Manuel Pereyra (Pereira), Portuguese sculptor, active in Spain. He probably arrived in Spain fully trained, although nothing is known of his apprenticeship. His career was spent based in Madrid and its environs. He was a prolific sculptor who worked in wood and stone, including alabaster, but unlike some Spanish sculptors he practised neither as an architect nor as a polychromist, work that he subcontracted to other specialists. Although his range of style was narrow, he ranks as one of the major Spanish sculptors of the 17th century.

San Bruno
San Bruno by
San Bruno
San Bruno by
San Bruno
San Bruno by

San Bruno

With the Portuguese artist Pereyra, Spanish art veers toward classicism. The famous San Bruno of the Carthusian house of Miraflores can be attributed safely to him on stylistic grounds. Pereyra is a representative of the second trend in 17th-century Spanish art, stemming from the reform of Philip II. The San Bruno is a realistic, almost naturalistic portrait. The sculptor has completely mastered his technique, and he works in a balanced, sober, and descriptive style. The emaciated head with its hollow eye-sockets illustrates the lessons learned from the Italian Quattrocento.

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