Seven Souls in Purgatory (Spain, ca 1700) - Exceptional and monumental

Exceptional and monumental (150x120x20cm!) oak sculpture of seven ‘Animae Solae’ or ‘Lonely Souls’ burning in Purgatory. They reach out for us with their hands in order to attract our attention hoping that we would pray for them. It is indeed by a combined effort of the prayers of mortals and divine intervention that they are saved from Purgatory and allowed in Heaven. This monumental and theatrical sculpture obviously stood in a monastery or church as these were the places where the attention of the praying mortals could have been attracted. According to their facial expression, however, Purgatory does not seem to be such a terrible place to dwell in…
Purgatory scenes were particularly beloved in southern Europe between 16th and 18th century. The ‘Capela Xeral de Animas’ in Compostella has a very similar scene at the outside above the main entrance and is therefore an interesting reference point. This chapel was financed by the Cofradía General de Ánimas de la ville de Santiago (founded in 1655) and constructed in 1755. It is why we would situate our sculpture in the North of Spain (Galicia?) around 1700. On a custom made stand. Dimensions without stand: 150x120x20cm. Heavy. Exceptional.