Spanish School, 19th–20th centuries: ‘Saint Teresa of Ávila’

This carved and polychromed wooden sculpture depicts Saint Teresa of Ávila in a pose of mystical glory, standing on a base of silver clouds populated by three dynamically carved cherubs. She wears the traditional habit of the Discalced Carmelite Order, consisting of a brown tunic, a matching scapular, a white headdress framing her face, and a wide, ivory-colored chapter mantle with subtle gold borders. In her hands, she holds her traditional iconographic attributes: a quill pen in her right hand and an open book in her left, symbols of her work as a writer and mystical intellectual. Her face displays a serene and devout expression directed towards heaven, enhanced by the use of glass eyes that lend the effigy a remarkable realism and a solemn air. The sculpture is displayed protected inside an elegant period niche or display case made of varnished fine wood, with curved lines and a carved crest in the Art Nouveau or Alfonsine style, upholstered at the bottom with red velvet.

Height: 67 cm; Niche dimensions: 120 x 40 x 59 cm