Alonso (y Escalante) de Mena

(b Granada, 20 Jan 1587; d Granada, 4 Sept 1646). A cultivated man from a family of printers, Alonso de Mena maintained the most active sculpture workshop in Granada from the 1620s until his death. He worked in clay, stone and wood. In 1604 he began a four-year apprenticeship with the Sevillian sculptor Andr?s de Ocampo, but his works display little of his master's influence. By 1610 Mena was back in Granada. His early works, such as St Lucy (c. 1615; Granada Cathedral) and the Virgin of Mercy (1615; Granada, S Cecilio), derive from the style of Pablo de Rojas. Many of Mena's notable Virgins show types later cultivated by both his son (2) Pedro de Mena and Alonso Cano. His Immaculate Conception (before 1630; Granada, S Jos?) shows the influence of Gregorio Fern?ndez. Mena's mature period began about 1630. The most impressive of his numerous crucifixes is the Forsaken Christ (1635; Madrid, S Jos?), which depicts the moment of Christ's death. The warrior figure of St James on Horseback (1640; Granada Cathedral) is associated with the idea of a victorious Philip IV. Mena emphasized the spiritual life of the saint

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