Luisa Roldán
Luisa Ignacia Roldán was a Spanish sculptor of the Baroque Era, and the first woman sculptor documented in Spain. She is recognized by the Hispanic Society Museum as “one of the few women artist to have maintained a studio outside the convents in Golden Age Spain”. Like many other prominent female artists, she was trained by her father, with whom she collaborated. She combined a specialty in small polychrome terracotta figures – unique for its time – and carved wood reliefs. She struck out on her own in 1671, when she married against her parents’ wishes, and established an independent workshop with her husband. Around 1686, she moved to Cádiz to complete a cathedral commission, then relocated to Madrid in 1688 and boldly petitioned the king for the position of court sculptor (“Escultor de Cámara). The petition was granted in 1692 and she held the post until her death twelve years later. Like many artists of her time she died poor, signing a declaration of poverty shortly before her death. On the day she died, Roldan received the title of “Academician Merit” from Rome’s Academy of Saint Luke in Rome.
Her works are distinctive, possessing “clearly delineated profiles, thick locks of hair, billowing draperies, and mystical faces with delicate eyes, knitting brows, rosy cheeks, and slightly parted lips.” Roldán was a prolific sculptor. Much of her work was religious sculpture for churches, and she also made small terracotta works in the forms of religous scenes, human forms and animals that were popular with the petty bourgeoisie and could be used for personal.