Fray Lope de Barrientos

Fray Lope de Barrientos -bishop of Segovia, Ávila and Cuenca- was born in Medina del Campo around 1382. He was counselor and chief chancellor of the Kingdom with Juan II, tutor of Enrique IV during his minority and responsible for the education of the very young infanta Isabella, the future Isabella I of Castile. The sculpture is made of alabaster and retains much of its original polychromy. The clothes and ornaments are worked with great detail. Lope de Barrientos died at a very old age and the face is a true portrait, possibly made from a funerary wax mask. The dog asleep at his feet is an allegory of fidelity. Before Bishop Barrientos died, he commissioned the construction of the Hospital de la Piedad in his native town and left written in his will, drawn up in 1454, the wish to be buried in the middle of the main chapel of the church, under this funerary sculpture. This reference has led experts to consider this work as the oldest representation in a prayerful attitude from the Late Gothic period.