Zarcello executed numerous works: indeed a greater number of statues and
statuettes--no less than eighteen hundred--than several men’s lives
could have sufficed to have produced are catalogued to his name. Many of
these present really admirable qualities. He was especially successful
in the grouping of his figures, many of which, though showing
exaggerated attitudes, are true works of art. His retablos in the
churches of Murcia, and the realistic groups of the “Pasos,” guarded in
the Ermita de Jesus (Plate 161), are remarkable examples of his power.
We are able to forget the materialistic devices used--such, for
instance, as the embroidered velvet robes which the Christ wears--by
reason of the truth and religious passion which has inspired the artist.
But all Zarcello’s figures display his faults, excited gestures,
confused drapery, and a want of care in the modelling of the
extremities.
Among his single statues we may mention the St. Jerome in the Cathedral
of Murcia, of which there is a replica in the convent of the saint,
three miles from the city. This statue is said by Antonio Alix, the
latest historian of Zarcello, to be equal to Torrigiani’s St. Jerome, an
estimate of praise which is surely excessive. Then there are the two
busts of St. John the Baptist in the Church of San Juan, a St.
Anthony--copied from Cano’s statue--a St. Francis, a Conception, and a
Purissima, as well as numerous representations of the saints. Every
church in Murcia contains some work of Zarcello. The statue of St.
Veronica (Plate 162) in Ermita de Jesus is the best single figure that
he achieved.
Zarcello stood alone. He was assisted in his studio work by the members
of his family, but no one of them inherited his talent. He seems to have
had no outside pupils. With his death, which occurred in the year 1748,
the history of ancient Spanish sculpture closes.
[Illustration: PLATE 1
Visigoth Crowns found near Toledo]
[Illustration: PLATE 2
Byzantine Crucifix and the Virgin in the Gothic Style. Provincial Museum
of San Marcos, Leon]
[Illustration: PLATE 3
Wooden Crucifix with which the Troops of the Cid were harangued. The
smaller Crucifix the Cid carried beneath his Armour. Salamanca
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 4
Byzantine Chest, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 5
Roman Statue found in the Ruins of Salonica. Provincial Museum, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 6
El Santo Cristo, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 7
Façade of the Cathedral, Santiago de Compostella]
[Illustration: PLATE 8
Portico of La Gloria, Santiago de Compostella Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 9
Detail of Carvings of the Portico of La Gloria, Santiago de
Compostella]
[Illustration: PLATE 10
Colegiata de San Isidoro, Leon]
[Illustration: PLATE 11
Spandril of Gate of Pardon in the College of San Isidoro, Leon]
[Illustration: PLATE 12
Two Statues in the Archælogical Museum, Leon]
[Illustration: PLATE 13
San Vicente, Avila]
[Illustration: PLATE 14
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