Redemption of the captives

The works of Pedro de la Cuadra have an interest among the scene in Valladolid since it reflects the evolution process that suffered some of the sculptors of that time, between correct Romance of Adrian Alvarez and Baroque Naturalism of Gregorio Fernandez. To the first period belongs this altarpiece of the convent of Merced Calzada of Valladolid, in whose iconographic program this relief was inserted. The work is a good example of how, once the century was passing, the Romance language started to distort with its heavy shapes and solutions that lacked quality, that were only going to be surmounted by the expression novelties Fernandez introduced. Figures as the one of Pedro de la Casa manage with repetitive and impersonal faces. The round and pompous clothes, typical of the school, show a formal heaviness that didn't show in the first manifestations. With its discreet plastic quality, the relief is full of interest for its chronicle value with a clear propaganda role according to the virtues of the Mercedarians. The scene represents a common fact during the 16th century: the purchase of Christians captured by North African Berbers in battles or by pirates, by monks from the Mercy order, founded in the 13th century by Saint Peter Nolasco with this freeing purpose.