CANO, Alonso
(b. 1601, Granada, d. 1667, Granada)

Eve

1666-67
Wood
Cathedral, Granada

Alonso Cano's was a life of considerable drama; before he became a priest, he had been unjustly accused of murdering his wife. He was a painter, an architect, and a sculptor. From 1652 onwards he worked for the capilla mayor of the Granada Cathedral, painting pictures illustrating the life of the Virgin; and at the end of his life, when about 1666 or 1667 he returned to Granada to present his plans for the cathedral façade, he carved two colossal wooden busts of Adam and Eve as part of the same decoration. He left the Adam unfinished and it was completed by Juan Velez de Ulloa. The Eve shows Alonso Cano already in the 17th century looking forward to the effeminate, elegant imagery of 18th-century Granada. This face sparkles with intelligence and its coquettish charm has a hint of voluptuousness.