Inspiring devotion

Jumoke Fashola considers a new exhibition of religious art from the Spanish Golden Age.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a full-length figure of Christ on the cross

Can art inspire devotion?

The question is raised - and convincingly answered - in a reappraisal of Spanish painting and sculpture from the 1600s.

The exhibition, at the National Gallery, includes masterpieces by Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Zurbarán, seen alongside a number of polychrome, or painted, sculptures, notable for the detail that went into their making.

Some of the artworks incorporate glass eyes and tears, as well as ivory teeth and human hair.

One room contains a full-length figure of Christ, still bloody from the crucifixion, on loan from a convent in Seville.

The idea has been seven years in the planning, according to curator Xavier Bray.

The point, he says, is "to shock the senses and stir the soul".

He believes the exhibition will have a "strong" impact on modern viewers, adding "there is a moment when you think you're in the presence of the saints".

Jumoke Fashola visited the National Gallery and afterwards talked to Xavier Bray on her Sunday morning show Inspirit.

The Sacred Made Real: Spanish Painting and Sculpture from 1600 - 1700, Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery WC2, to 24 January 2010. Find more details here.