(b Azpeitia, Guip?zcoa, c. 1540; d Pamplona, 30 Nov 1588). Spanish sculptor. His works in alabaster and wood in the north-east region of Spain decisively influenced late 16th-century sculpture in that area. Echoes of major Italian sculptors' works strongly suggest that he trained in Italy, although there is no evidence of this. By 1565 Ancheta was in Valladolid, but shortly after this he is likely to have assisted GASPAR BECERRA on the retable at S Clara, Briviesca. Becerra's grandiose Roman Mannerist style, imbued with the Classicism of ancient Roman and Italian Mannerist sculpture, lies behind Ancheta's art. He probably also worked with Becerra around 1558 on the retable in Astorga Cathedral. He continued to be active in and around Valladolid and at Burgos and was named in Juan de Juni's will as the only sculptor capable of completing Juni's retable at S Maria del Mediavilla in Medina de R?oseco, although this was actually completed by Esteban Jord?n. From about 1575 to 1578 Ancheta worked on the chapel and retable of the Trinity in Jaca Cathedral. The figure of God the Father directly recalls Michelangelo's Moses (1510s; Rome, S Pietro in Vincoli).
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