Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction: Women Artists in the Early Modern Courts of Europe, c. 1450–1700
- 2 Female Court Artists: Women's Career Strategies in the Courts of the Early Modern Period
- 3 Caterina van Hemessen in the Habsburg Court of Mary of Hungary
- 4 Sofonisba Anguissola, a Painter and a Lady-in-Waiting
- 5 Creative Reproductions: Diana Mantuana and Printmaking at Court
- 6 ‘Una persona dependente alla Serenissima Gran Duchessa’ : Female Embroiderers and Lacemakers between the courts of Florence and France
- 7 Life at Court: Luisa Roldán in Madrid 1689–1706
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - Life at Court: Luisa Roldán in Madrid 1689–1706
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction: Women Artists in the Early Modern Courts of Europe, c. 1450–1700
- 2 Female Court Artists: Women's Career Strategies in the Courts of the Early Modern Period
- 3 Caterina van Hemessen in the Habsburg Court of Mary of Hungary
- 4 Sofonisba Anguissola, a Painter and a Lady-in-Waiting
- 5 Creative Reproductions: Diana Mantuana and Printmaking at Court
- 6 ‘Una persona dependente alla Serenissima Gran Duchessa’ : Female Embroiderers and Lacemakers between the courts of Florence and France
- 7 Life at Court: Luisa Roldán in Madrid 1689–1706
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Abstract
Catherine Hall-van den Elsen considers the career of Luisa Roldán (1652–1706), one of Spain's most renowned female artists, who was appointed Escultora de Cámara (sculptor to the Royal Chamber) to both Kings Carlos II and Felipe V. As the daughter of a well-known Sevillian sculptor, Roldán developed her skills in a busy workshop that produced life-sized polychrome wood sculptures. But when the artist arrived in Madrid with her family in late 1688, she found an uncertain economic environment and a very different market, with reduced demand for the sculpture with which she was familiar. Roldán set about identifying an alternative product to suit the tastes of the royal and noble residents of Madrid's Corte y Villa, proving herself an able interpreter of religious and political environment.
Keywords: Spanish terracotta sculpture; polychromed wooden sculptures; Women at the Court of Carlos II; Spanish art of the Early Modern period; art market; Habsburg courts
Luisa Roldán (also known as La Roldána, 1652–1706) served as Escultora de Cámara (Sculptor to the Royal Chamber) in the Spanish court during the final decade of the Habsburg King Carlos II and the early rule of Felipe V, the first of Spain’s Bourbon kings. The first female to hold that title and one of the very few women who appeared in Antonio Palomino's Lives (El Parnaso…, 1724), our understanding of Luisa's life and artistic output has developed gradually, with the pace of scholarship increasing after 1964 when Beatrice Gilman Proske published some of the artist's correspondence with the court. Proske's articles represented a significant step forward in Roldána scholarship, providing invaluable glimpses of the challenges and successes that Luisa experienced. Like those of many court artists, the letters that Proske published have a predominantly unhappy tone, affording insight into Luisa's dire financial straits and suggesting a series of questions for scholarly consideration, among them: How did Luisa survive in Madrid? How were she and her work received in the Villa y Corte (town and royal court)? What skills did she need to grasp the opportunities that were open to her? This chapter records progress towards resolving those questions, augmenting the information provided in Proske’s three articles and adding a sketch of Luisa's early development in Andalucía.
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- Women Artists in the Early Modern Courts of Europec. 1450-1700, pp. 161 - 186Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2021