ABSTRACT
Lorenzo Mercadante – the hispanised name of the Breton tombier Laorans Marc'hadour – is the least-known member of a select group of northern craftsmen who revolutionised artistic practice in Castile in the mid-15th century. Summoned from France to Seville in 1454 to produce an alabaster tomb for Cardinal Juan de Cervantes, Mercadante was soon asked to produce sculptures for the city's new cathedral. Finding the local stone unsuitable for fine carving, the Breton turned to terracotta, producing within a few years the twelve life-sized figures and two high reliefs which still grace the cathedral's exterior portals. It was only in northern Italy and the Middle Rhine that larger terracottas suitable for external display were being produced in this period, and this chapter suggests that Mercadante travelled from Seville to one of these areas before producing his own sculptures. Although there are no documents confirming this hypothesis, the chapter investigates physical evidence, comparing Mercadante's works to objects from Italy and Germany in terms of technique, location, composition and style.
