Manuel de Chili "Caspicara" (Quito, Ecuador, 1723 - 1796)

Manuel de Chili "Caspicara" (Quito, Ecuador, 1723 - 1796)
"Pietà"
Carved, polychromed, gilded and estofado-decorated wooden sculpture with rubies affixed to it.
56 x 55 x 30 cm. Measurements with plinth: 67 x 65 x 38 cm.
This sculpture can be compared with that of the sculptural group "The Holy Shroud" which is kept in the Cathedral of Quito.
Manuel Chili, known by his artistic name, "Caspicara", was one of the most important indigenous sculptors of what is known as the Quito School of the 18th century.
Caspicara began making images at a very young age, according to the historian Jaime Aguilar de Paredes, until reaching a mastery that placed him at a level with European artists.
His teachers were Diego de Robles and Bernardo de Legarda, in whose workshops he collaborated when he was young.
Specialising in religious motifs made of wood and marble, his work was made for the most important altars in churches and convents in the region, although his work arrived in Europe also, to form part of the collections of the nobility and the monarchy.

Bibliographic references:
- Aguilar Paredes, Jaime "Grandes Personalidades de la Partria Ecuatoriana". Ed. Fray Judoco Ricke, p. 104.