Juan de Mesa y Velasco was a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

  Baroque sculptor

Baroque sculpture

Baroque sculpture is the sculpture associated with the Baroque cultural movement, a movement often identified with the existence of important Baroque art and architecture in non-absolutist and Protestant states.-Course:...

. He was the creator of several of the effigies that are used in the procession during the Holy Week in Seville

Holy Week in Seville

Holy Week in Seville is one of the most important traditional events of the city. It is celebrated in the week leading up to Easter , and is one of the better known religious events within Spain...

.

De Mesa was born in Córdoba

Córdoba, Spain

-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...

 and baptised on 26 June 1583. He entered the workshop of Juan Martínez Montañés

Juan Martínez Montañés

Juan Martínez Montañés , known as el Dios de la Madera , was a Spanish sculptor, born at Alcalá la Real, in the province of Jaén. He was one of the most important figures of the Sevillian school of sculpture.His master was Pablo de Roxas. His first known work, dating 1597, is the graceful St...

 in Seville

Seville

Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

 in 1606. He died in the city in 1627. His early death, coupled with the large gaps in his biography, has led to speculation that he suffered from a chronic disease such as tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

.

Like his master, Montañés, de Mesa's works were realistic rather than imaginative in form, his sculptures closely replicate the human form. This was in line with the Catholic Church's aesthetic program

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 for the visual arts following the Council of Trent

Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...

, which sought to make the arts accessible to the poorly educated by using realistic forms.

Processional effigies make up the bulk of de Mesa's extant work and are still objects of devotion. These works include Cristo del Amor, Cristo de la Buena Muerte and Cristo del Gran Poder.

See also

• Sevillian school of sculpture
  Sevillian school of sculpture
  The Sevillian school of sculpture—the tradition of Christian religious sculpture in Seville, Andalusia, Spain—began in the 13th century, formed a clear tradition of its own in the 16th century, and continues into the present....