User:Twinkle shoes.04/Luisa Roldán

Luisa Ignacia Roldán (8 September 1652 – 10 January 1706), known as La Roldana, as well, was one of the most famous Spanish women sculptor of the Baroque Era. She is the earliest woman sculptor documented in Spain. Roldán is recognized in the Hispanic Society Museum for being "one of the few women artists to have maintained a studio outside the convents in Golden Age Spain".

Because of the quality of her work, Antonio Palomino considered her as important a sculptor as her father, Pedro Roldán.

Although Roldán became the Escultor de Cámara, or Court Sculptor, to the Habsburg King Charles II, she struggled financially. Like many artists of her time she died poor, signing a declaration of poverty shortly before her death. On the day of her death, Roldan was given the title of "Academician Merit" from the Accademia di San Luca in Rome.

Early Life
Roldán was born in Seville, Spain, the daughter of sculptor Pedro Roldán and his wife Teresa de Ortega. She was taught by her father, alongside her siblings, how to do several things. For example: draw, ulitize clay to shape figures and finally sculpt or carve in wood. She became an apprentice in her father's workshop (18).

When she was 19 Roldán married an apprentice of her father named Luis Antonio de los Arcos (1652-1711). The marriage was against her father's wishes. Santiago Montoto, writing in 1920, went so far as to characterize it as an "abduction" ("rapto"), perhaps reflecting his lack of understanding of marriage customs of the period. The chosen partnerships of two of her sisters and one brother also met with parental disapproval.

Afterwards, Roldán worked in Cadiz from 1686 to 1688. She established her own workshop, together with her husband and her brother-in-law, Tomás de los Arcos, to create religious polychromed wooden sculptures. Roldán was the principal sculptor,  while her husband helped with his expertise in flesh painting and gilding. He was also called an encarnado which means specialist in painting flesh tones. (18)

She created wooden sculptures as well as statues for the Cathedral of Cadiz and the town council. In 1688 she moved to Madrid, and in 1692 was later awarded the position of "escultora de camara” or "Sculptor to the Chamber," serving Charles II and later Philip V as "Sculptor to the King". Roldán created a terracotta piece called the Virgen con el Nino  and donated it  to the Accademia di San Luca, to which she was admitted at the end of her life.

Roldán had seven children, two of whom survived to adulthood. Of the five who died, the cause of death in two cases was malnutrition. During her time working for Charles II, Roldán, her husband, and their children all suffered from hunger owing to a general shortage of food during the country's economic crisis.

Nonetheless, she died in poverty in Madrid. She tried to improve her financial situation by appealing to Charles II's second wife, Queen Maria Anna for help. The queen responded by sending money, but it proved insufficient. Luisa's husband, Tomás de Arcos hoped to improve matters by applying for a position at court, but was unsuccessful.

Roldán's husband did play a part in marketing her work and extending her reputation. Charles II commissioned a sculpture titled of Nazareno ("Penitent"), but, following Charles's death, this remained in the artist's workshop. Her husband tried to have the sculpture sent to Rome through the recommendation of influential contacts, but it proved not to be to the liking of the intended recipient.

Major Works
Roldán's works are strongly characterized as possessing "clearly delineated profiles, thick locks of hair, billowing draperies, and mystical faces with delicate eyes, knitting brows, rosy cheeks, and slightly parted lips." The "knitted brows" that are sometimes noted in her terracotta angels are not usually seen in her works in wood, which are characterized by open, evenly arched brows. Her St. Ginés de la Jara, made around 1692, is now at the Getty Center. Unlike the billowing cape of her St Michael in El Escorial, the robe worn by the Getty's San Gines is very still. Processional statues whose creation can be safely attributed to her include statues of the Virgen de la Soledad, Mary Magdalen, and Jesus.Her sculpture of the Virgen de la Soledad appeared in several Catholic Churches and appealed to many people from different social classes. (22) In Cadiz, works by her include statues of Anthony of Padua, Ecce Homo, and Saints Servandus and Cermanus.

She was a prolific sculptor. Much of her work compromised religious sculptures for churches. For example, the sculptures of the holy saints, Archangel Saint Michael and Mary Magdalene(24)(20). While living in Madrid she also made small terracotta works popular with the petty bourgeoisie. The smaller works could be used for personal devotion and took the forms of religious scenes, human forms and animals. Her pieces were widely distributed in Andalusia, as well as in Madrid, Móstoles and Sisante (Province of Cuenca), New York, London, Ontario, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Process of creating Sculptures
Roldán’s style of art was created through her point of view of the world, her access to resources and the materials she used to cultivate her detailed orientated sculptures. There were three different types of woods used by Luisa to create certain sculptures, like Gines. There were two types of wood that she used in order to carve the sculpture to her best abilities which  were soft and fine grained(18). The quality of each of the materials were available in Spain and highly recommended and desirable to use for carvers (18).

Roldán and with the help of her father were able to make their sculptures like the Gines and Saint Joseph with the Child making, stable, yet light when it came to the weight.They had to carefully pick imported materials that would help the stability of the statue. For example: they used the Mediterranean cypress which is a wood that came from through the Mediterranean. Then there is the Spanish cedar that was used for the most difficult part of the sculptures which are the hands. After obtaining the materials Pedro begins to use a technique that is known throughout the artistic world which is hollowing the section of wood. Roldan with smaller pieces of the wood would work on the feet. When she was done carving the feet she worked on the face. Luisa Roldán created the face and beard in a unique way by carving from a block of wood a mask that will eventually be joined with the back of the head. (18) Finally, she added details to the base of the sculpture  like leaves and other patterns. Finally after the sculpture is made, Luisa gives the sculpture to the painter, Tomás de los Arcos.

The way they created the sculptures was so specific and intricate in order to illustrate the realism and meaning of Roldan’s sculpture and why she creates art (22).

Her Legacy or Career
Luisa Roldán impacted several women artists in Seville, Cadiz and Madrid through her sculptures and artistic innovation. (20)(23) Women artists were seen as being a part of a “private” sphere and men were a “public” sphere. When Roldan created her sculptures she made her world public and impacted many women artists.She is a woman artist that is known as a Spanish sculptor that created her own name. Through her artwork, she was able to earn a royal title as “escultora de camara.” Roldán was able to illustrate her own entray called Lives of the Eminent Spanish Painters and Sculptors (19). However, in the eighteenth century  it was discovered that more than ninety names of women were active artists that contributed to Spain’s and Portugal's art. There were many other women artists that were being discovered at the time Roldán published her artwork.This created tension and controversy with the idea of Roldán being one of the best known Spanish women artists. On the other hand, she paved the way for new innovational art that focused on terracotta imagery. (20)