Saint Michael Gil de Siloé

Gil de Siloé, a major Spanish sculptor in the second half of the fifteenth century, was of Netherlandish origin, as were many of his contemporaries working in Spain. At a young age he settled in Burgos where he made altars and tombs. His name is associated with the tombs of John II of Castile (died 1454) and Isabella of Portugal (died 1496) at the Carthusian monastery on the Miraflores hill near Burgos, and with the monastery’s monumental main altar. His works are characterised by burgeoning decorative ornamentation, in addition to the late Gothic Netherlandish stylistic elements. The sharply scalloped eye of the statue of Saint Michael and its elongated and rigid facial form evoke Siloé’s figures on the main altar of the Miraflores monastery.