Juan Cháez and the small portrait of a Grandee of Spain

4/12/25 Acquisition - Valladolid, Museo Nacional de Escultura - He depicted the various stages of pregnancy in a series of sculptures commissioned around 1794 by the Royal College of Surgery of San Carlos in Madrid. Whether in wax, wood, or terracotta, Juan Cháez was renowned for the precision of his figurines. Born in Malaga and active in Madrid, he did not confine his talent to medicine, of course, but successfully portrayed popular characters: hunters, knife-grinders, majas... He is also credited with a set of twenty-seven figures on the theme of the corrida, including toreros accompanied by horses and bulls, among them legendary Seville matadors such as Costillares and Pepe Hillo.