TORCUARTO IGNACIO RUIZ DEL PERAL (Granada, 1708-1773)."Head of Saint Paul".Carved and polychrome wood.Measurements: 45 x 21 x 38 cm.Sculptural carving in which the head of Saint Paul is represented in a realistic and exacerbated way. The rear area, which was not worked on, indicates that it probably formed part of a larger sculptural group. As for the aesthetic treatment of the work, the hair in ringlets, the oval face of the protagonist, together with the cheekbones, widely marked, the profiled nose and the gesture of the mouth, bring us closer to the works of the sculptor Torcuato Ignacio Ruiz del Peral, this work being similar to the Beheaded Head of Saint John the Baptist, made by the artist and which can be found in the Cathedral of Granada. It is also worth mentioning the polychromy, which was fundamental in the artist's work, with light tones and a reduced palette that amplified the drama of the works.Torcuato Ignacio Ruiz del Peral was born in the town of Guadix, although in 1722 he moved to Granada to the workshop of Diego Mora in the Albaicín. The aesthetics of that time followed the artistic models of the Baroque, in fact, the creation of the Academy of Noble Arts in 1777, consolidated this artistic trend. The 17th century school in Granada, based on the previous Renaissance school, included great figures such as Pablo de Rojas, Juan Martínez Montañés (who trained in the city with the previous one), Alonso de Mena, Alonso Cano, Pedro de Mena, Bernardo de Mora, Pedro Roldán, Torcuato Ruiz del Peral, etc. In general, the school did not neglect the beauty of the images and also followed naturalism, as was usual at the time, but it would always emphasise the intimate and seclusion in delicate images which would be somewhat similar to the rest of the Andalusian schools in another series of details but which do not usually have the monumentality of the Sevillian ones.